Israeli Prime Minister plays the role of mediator in the Russian conflict

This information is published Financial Times comments on March 16. Accordingly, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett plays a central role “main international mediator” in promoting negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

According to Financial Times, proposed a draft ceasefire agreement between Kiev and Moscow including 15 points. Under this proposal, Ukraine renounced its desire to join the NATO military alliance in exchange for a ceasefire, Russian troop withdrawal and security commitments.

Kiev and Moscow have made significant progress in agreeing on a tentative deal in which Ukraine will also put limits on its military and remain neutral by not aligning or allowing foreign forces on his land. Negotiators from both sides discussed the full deal for the first time on March 14.

Despite the apparent progress in talks between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian negotiators suspect Moscow may be buying time to rally its military to exert pressure in the negotiations.

Also follow Financial Timesin addition to the role of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also contributed to the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

A senior Zelensky aide said that the proposed draft ceasefire agreement between Kiev and Moscow only represents Russia’s position.

Ukraine has expressed its ambition to become a member of NATO, but in recent days, Kiev seems reluctant to join the alliance. On March 15, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine “must admit” that it cannot join NATO.

Prime Minister Bennett has had phone calls with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky, and he personally flew to Moscow to meet Putin earlier this month, becoming the first foreign leader to meet. Russia’s leadership since Moscow launched its military campaign against Ukraine.

In late February, during a phone call with President Vladimir Putin, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett proposed to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.

Israel is one of the few countries that maintains good cooperative relations with both Ukraine and Russia. Mr. Bennett decided not to send weapons or other military aid to Ukraine in order to maintain its status as a neutral country.

Recently, Assistant to the President of Russia – Boris Medinsky also revealed that Kiev proposed Ukraine to become a version of Sweden or Austria – a demilitarized country with its own armed forces. According to Medinsky, these issues are being discussed at the leadership of the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries.

On March 16, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that at the talks, Ukraine’s neutrality status along with Russia’s requirements for security guarantees are being seriously discussed. The negotiations are tough, but there is some hope of compromise.

To date, Russia and Ukraine have had at least four negotiations since Moscow’s military campaign began. However, the negotiations have not made breakthrough progress, the two sides have only agreed to agree on humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians.