Kiev
KievReuters

Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, on Thursday wrote a post on Facebook criticizing Foreign Minister Yair Lapid over remarks he made about the tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

Lapid had told Axios in an interview, “At the moment, the [Israeli] assessment is that we don’t see a violent confrontation soon. I also don’t think a world war is about to start there."

“I was deeply appalled by the recent remarks of Mr. Lapid regarding his vision of the ‘Russia-Ukraine conflict,’” Korniychuk wrote on Facebook. In wake of the post, he was summoned for a reprimand by the Foreign Ministry.

“I would like to remind Mr. Minister that it is not a conflict - it is a WAR, that Russia aggressively and cynically conducts against Ukraine,” the Ambassador wrote.

“It is a shame, that Mr. Lapid has not noticed the war in the center of Europe which lasts for eight years already. Unfortunately, Mr. Minister reiterates rhetoric of Russian propaganda and ignores the disturbing massages from his own strongest allies – USA, Britain and EU regarding the high possibility of full scale Russian military invasion into Ukraine in coming weeks.”

“Sharing Israel's concerns about Iran's nuclear program, I dare to suggest that if a full-scale war breaks out in Europe, Israel will be left face-to-face with the Iranian threat.”

“I would suggest Mr. Lapid to have a phone conversation not only with the minister of foreign affairs of aggressor state but also communicate with Ukrainian side, to see the real picture instead of using Russian clichés.”

“I would also suggest to our Israeli friends to use our President’s invitation and to pay a visit to Kyiv that would be of great importance to our country today. Our American, British and European colleagues as many others have already done that,” concluded the Ukrainian Ambassador.