Israel To Dispatch 100 Tons Of Humanitarian Aid To Ukraine

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday that Israel would send 100 tons in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including water-purification kits, medical equipment and tents expected to arrive within days.

The premier said Israel was proceeding "with moderation and responsibility" on a conflict testing its ties to Kyiv and Moscow. Bennett refrained from condemning Russia, instead expressing hope that the "conflict will be resolved before the war spreads even more." He made no mention of Ukrainian appeals on Israel to mediate in the crisis with Russia.

While Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has censured the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Bennett has stopped short of such remarks. Israel is wary of clashing with Russia, especially over next-door Syria, where Moscow has military sway.

Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected an offer by Russian officials to meet for talks in Belarus, saying while Kyiv is eager to conduct such negotiations, it would only do so in a neutral country.

Had there been no aggressive action taken from Belarus, we could talk in Minsk, Zelensky said. "Of course we want peace. We want to meet. We want the war to end. Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku – we've offered them to the Russians. Any other city would suit us, too – in a country, from whose territory missiles are not launched at us. This is the only way negotiations can be honest and can really end the war."