(In practice, Russia has the ships that it needs in the Black Sea to mount an amphibious invasion.)Ĭriticism inside Turkey of Erdoğan has been less intense than of Bennett, but it is noticeable that Boris Johnson spoke to Erdoğan by phone on Friday and Wendy Sherman, the US deputy secretary of state, met Turkish officials that day. The country is battling a financial crisis and has not imposed sanctions or closed Turkish airspace to Russia, even though it has condemned the invasion unambiguously, allowed Turkish-built drones to be bought by the Ukrainian army and closed the Bosporus and Dardanelles under the 1936 Montreux Pact, allowing it, if necessary, to prevent some Russian warships from crossing the Turkish straits. Turkey has also been accused of shopping on both sides of the street. “Even if the chances are not great.” Turkey “I went to Moscow and Berlin to try to help bring a dialogue between all the sides, with the blessing and encouragement of all the players,” he said. “Bennett’s trip to Russia gave Putin the stamp of neutral Israel’s approval – which we won’t be able to shake.”īennett denies that his efforts should be seen in such a light, saying he has a moral responsibility to try to bring peace. “Can it be that the defence ministry can say that because we need to bomb Syria once or twice a week, we’re going to stay neutral in this war?” he asked. The former director general of the Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs, Alon Liel, was equally scathing. Instead of hanging up on a psychopathic, ruthless dictator, Israel is acting like a Russian client state, nearly an ally.” The excuse was that it involved Israeli ‘mediation efforts’. In a furious piece for Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, the author Uri Misgav complained: “We’re walking on eggshells, wary of offending Vladimir Putin’s inflated honour Bennett was even pulled out of a meeting to take an extended phone call from him. Israel also needs Russia to maintain a deal inside Syria that allows it to mount attacks on Iranian positions. If Moscow can be persuaded not to sign off on a revival of the Iran nuclear deal, currently close to completion in Vienna, that would be a diplomatic triumph for a country that has long opposed it. ![]() Israel has motives to stay onside with Russia. His early stance also displeased Washington, but the anger was tempered when Bennett was persuaded to support the UN general assembly resolution on 2 March condemning Russia. Zelenskiy himself complained initially: “I don’t feel Bennett is wrapped in our flag.” Bennett, prime minister since June, is a diplomatic novice, but he was accompanied by Zeev Elkin, a veteran of former PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s meetings with Putin from 2009 onwards and, according to Israeli accounts, is the official who has spent the longest time with the Russian leader.īut Bennett’s visit has come under domestic attack from those angry that Israel has in effect decided to stay neutral by blocking arms supplies to Ukraine. His foreign minister Yair Lapid will fly to meet US secretary of state Antony Blinken in Lithuania, suggesting he may be making some progress. Since the visit, Bennett has spoken to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, twice, and is due to speak to Putin again. ![]() Erdoğan was also given warning, since he needed to use Turkish airspace. He apparently consulted Macron, Scholz and US president Joe Biden in advance of breaking Shabbat to spend three hours with Putin before travelling on to Berlin to brief Scholz. ![]() Israelīennett’s visit to Moscow on Saturday was the most surprising and consequential. Their critics, by contrast, say the peacemaking is a fig leaf behind which to hide moral bankruptcy and to justify the maintenance of deep commercial ties with Russia, still a potential victor from this trial of strength. These countries have all defended their interventions and various shades of neutrality over the war, saying it puts them in a good place to act as honest brokers.
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