Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed not to kill Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenksyy during early negotiations of the invasion, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday.
Bennett briefly served as a mediator between Putin and Zelenskyy in the opening weeks of Russia's invasion. The former prime minister traveled to Moscow and met with Putin in March 2022, and he detailed their conversation during an interview posted online on Saturday.
"I asked ‘what’s with this? Are you planning to kill Zelenskyy?’ He said ‘I won’t kill Zelenskyy.’ I then said to him ‘I have to understand that you’re giving me your word that you won’t kill Zelenskyy.’ He said ‘I’m not going to kill Zelenskyy,'" Bennett said of their conversation.
Bennett said he then called Zelenskyy to tell him the news.
"’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,'" Bennett said.
Revelations of Putin's promise come just weeks before the one-year anniversary of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Diplomatic efforts have since fizzled out, however, and Zelenskyy now says he is unwilling to speak with Putin until he withdraws his forces from Ukraine.
Other Ukrainian officials have dismissed Bennett's statement, arguing Putin was simply lying.
"Do not be fooled: [Putin] is an expert liar. Every time he has promised not to do something, it has been exactly part of his plan," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote Sunday on...
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