Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin once pledged that he will not kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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Vladimir Putin said 'I won't kill Zelenskyy'
Bennett attempted to act as a mediator soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year (2022), meeting Putin during a trip to Moscow last March. On the evening of Saturday 4 February, he posted a video on his YouTube channel which revealed some of the details of his peacekeeping efforts.
In the five-hour interview, Bennett states that he asked Putin whether he planned to kill Zelenskyy:
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 he then called Zelenskyy to tell him about Putin's promise:
’Listen, I came out of a meeting, he’s not going to kill you.’ He asks, ‘Are you sure?’ I said ‘One hundred percent he won’t kill you.’
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In the past, Putin has made promises not to occupy Crimea, not to violate Minsk agreements, not to invade Ukraine, yet he has done all of these things. Do not be fooled: he is an expert liar. Every time he has promised not to do something, it has been exactly part of his plan. pic.twitter.com/LGkwUeOYBK
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 5, 2023
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But can Vladimir Putin be trusted?
However, Ukrainian presidential aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, rejected the claims. He posted on Twitter:
Ex-official’s claims on ‘mediation’ that Putin allegedly gave ‘guarantees not to kill’ and ‘the West interrupted promising negotiations’ are fiction.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, also commented branding Putin 'an expert liar'. He said:
In the past, Putin has made promises not to occupy Crimea, not to violate Minsk agreements, not to invade Ukraine, yet he has done all of these things. Do not be fooled … Every time he has promised not to do something, it has been exactly part of his plan.
Sources used:
- Aljazeera: 'Putin promised not to kill Zelenskyy: Ex-Israeli PM'
