ISTANBUL
After US pressure, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will hold phone talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov next week, according to a US news website.
The two ministers will speak over the phone early next week to discuss “non-lethal assistance to Ukraine,” Axios said, citing two senior Israeli defense officials.
The idea of the phone call came during a meeting between Gallant and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Brussels on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO defense ministers.
If confirmed, the contact will be the first between the Israeli and Ukrainian defense ministers since Gallant took office last December.
“Plans for the call came after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday asked Gallant if he would speak to his Ukrainian counterpart and do more to help Ukraine,” the Israeli officials said.
According to the news portal, Gallant presented Israel’s policy about military assistance to Ukraine during his meeting with Austin.
“Israel will not provide to Ukraine any lethal weapons,” Gallant said.
The Israeli government has pursued a careful approach to the Russian war in Ukraine in an effort to avoid tension with Moscow.
The US, however, has piled pressure on Israel to do more to help Ukraine, Axios said.
Israeli-Ukrainian relations have been marred by tension over the past months.
Last year, Russia launched a war on Ukraine, which was met with international outrage, with the European Union, G-7, US, and UK among others imposing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.
However, Israel’s pro-Kyiv policies did not go beyond a declaration of support for Ukraine against the Russian offensive, rejecting a referendum in the regions annexed by Russia, and the provision of humanitarian aid in the war.
Nonetheless, Ukraine considered these steps insufficient.
