Russian president Vladimir Putin promised not to kill his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, a former Israeli prime minister reportedly said. Naftali Bennett said that he has asked Vladimir Putin whether he intended to kill the Ukrainian president, when they met in Moscow last March.
Naftali Bennett had briefly served as a mediator at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year. In an interview, Naftali Bennett said, "I asked 'what's up with this? Are you planning to kill Zelensky?'
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“He said: 'I won't kill Zelensky.' I then said to him: 'I have to understand that you're giving me your word that you won't kill Zelensky.' He said: 'I'm not going to kill Zelensky',” Naftali Bennett added saying that he then called Zelensky to inform him of the Russian president's promise.
"'Listen, I came out of a meeting, he's not going to kill you'. He asks, 'are you sure?' I said: '100% he won't kill you.'"
Talking about the mediation, Naftali Bennett said that then Vladimir Putin had dropped his vow to seek Ukraine's disarmament and Zelensky had promised not to join NATO.
{{/usCountry}}Talking about the mediation, Naftali Bennett said that then Vladimir Putin had dropped his vow to seek Ukraine's disarmament and Zelensky had promised not to join NATO.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Russia claimed that Ukraine plans a major “provocation” in Donetsk to extract more promises of military aid from West. This came after Russian missiles struck Kharkiv, damaging a university and residential neighborhoods in the city.
Ukraine also expects a big new Russian offensive to start this month, defense minister Oleksii Reznikov.