Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday night that Israel was undertaking many efforts to arrange top-level peace talks between his country and Russia and suggested they might take place in Jerusalem, Reuters reported.
Zelenskyy, speaking in his daily video appeal to Ukrainians hours after addressing the Knesset via Zoom, said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had been trying to act as an intermediary between Kyiv and Moscow.
"Of course, Israel has its interests, strategy to protect its citizens. We understand all of it," he said.
"The prime minister of Israel, Mr. Bennett is trying to find a way of holding talks. And we are grateful for this. We are grateful for his efforts, so that sooner or later we will begin to have talks with Russia, possibly in Jerusalem. That's the right place to find peace. If possible,” added Zelenskyy.
Switching from Ukrainian to Russian in his remarks, he continued, "Russian propagandists have a tough job on their hands today. For the first time, a Ukrainian president spoke to the parliament of Israel and, by video recording, to the people of Israel, a Ukrainian accused of Nazism by Moscow. This very fact already proves that things are not as Moscow says."
Reports last week indicated that Bennett has been the primary international mediator in talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Officials told The Financial Times that Ukraine and Russia have made significant progress on a tentative peace plan including a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal if Kyiv declares neutrality and accepts limits on its armed forces.
In his address before MKs on Sunday, the Ukrainian President drew parallels between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, and the German Nazi Party’s rise to power, noting that the party presented its 25-Point Program calling for the total segregation of Jews in Germany and the ending of their legal rights as citizens.
“The 24th of February will go down in history as being a day of tragedy in Ukraine twice over – for Ukraine, for the Jews, for Europe, and for the world as a whole,” he said.
“On the 24th of February, 1920, the National Socialist German Workers' Party - the Nazi Party – the party which murdered millions and destroyed entire countries” revealed its plan against German Jews, Zelenskyy continued.
Zelenskyy chided the international community, with thinly veiled criticism of Israel, for not adopting open-door policies towards Ukrainian refugees.
“I’m sure you feel our pain, but can you explain why we still have to call on countries for help? We’re appealing for help, or even entry permits [for refugees]. What is this? Apathy? Calculations? An attempt to stay neutral mediators?”
Senior government ministers later criticized Zelenskyy’s speech, claiming that he belittled the memory of the Holocaust with his words.
"The president of Ukraine attacked Israel and made an outrageous comparison to the Holocaust. This is a distortion of history," the ministers said.