Putin vowed not to kill Zelenskyy, former Israeli PM Bennett says
Naftali Bennett (Photo:Maya Alleruzzo/Pool via REUTERS)
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who stepped down in the summer of 2022, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had promised him not to assassinate Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Associated Press reported on Feb. 6.
Bennett and Putin met in Moscow in March 2022, shortly after Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine began.
According to the former Israeli PM, he asked Putin whether he had planned to assassinate the Ukrainian president.
"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 stated.
The ex-prime minister noted that he had relayed this pledge to Zelenskyy.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reacted to Bennett's words, noting that the Russian dictator does not keep his word.
“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," the Ukrainian diplomat wrote on Twitter.
“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.”
In January, the Independent reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had survived more than 12 assassination attempts since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
The journalists noted that at least two of them were successfully prevented thanks to U.S. intelligence.
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