Former Israeli PM says Putin won't kill Ukrainian President Zelenskyy

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Former Israeli PM says Putin won't kill Ukrainian President Zelenskyy

TEL AVIV, Israel : A former Israeli prime minister who served briefly as a mediator at the beginning of Russia's war with Ukraine, said he drew a promise from the Russian president not to kill his Ukrainian counterpart.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett became one of the few Western leaders to meet President Vladimir Putin during the war in a snap trip to Moscow last March, becoming one of the few Western leaders to meet President Vladimir Putin during the war's first weeks.

While Bennett's mediation efforts appear to have done little to end the bloodshed that continues until today, his remarks shed light on backroom diplomacy and urgent efforts that were underway to bring the conflict to a speedy conclusion in its early days.

In a five-hour interview, Bennett said he asked Putin if he intended to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He said I won t kill Zelenskyy and that he needs to understand that you won t kill Zelenskyy He said that he m not going to kill Zelenskyy and that he called Zelenskyy to inform him of Putin's promise.

He is not going to kill you, listen, I came out of a meeting. I said 100 percent he won't kill you Bennett said that Putin dropped his vow to seek Ukraine's disarmament and Zelenskyy promised not to join NATO during his mediation.

Bennett, a largely untested leader who had served as prime minister for just over six months when the war broke out, unexpectedly thrust himself into international diplomacy after he had positioned Israel into an uncomfortable middle ground between Russia and Ukraine. Israel views its relations with the Kremlin as strategic in the face of threats from Iran, but it also aligns itself with Western nations and seeks to show support for Ukraine.

An observant Jew and little known internationally, he flew to Moscow for his meeting with Putin during the Jewish Sabbath, breaking his religious commitments and putting himself at the forefront of global efforts to halt the war.

His peacemaking efforts did not appear to take off and his time in power was short-lived. In the summer, Bennett's government, an ideologically diverse union that sent current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a brief political exile, collapsed over infighting. Bennett stepped away from politics and is now a private citizen.