Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in an interview posted to his YouTube channel on Saturday that the US and its Western allies “blocked” his efforts of mediating between Russia and Ukraine to bring an end to the war in its early days.
On March 5, 2022, Bennett traveled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin. In the interview, he detailed his mediation at the time between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which he said he coordinated with the US, France, Germany, and the UK.
Bennett said that both sides agreed to major concessions during his mediation effort. For the Russian side, he said they dropped “denazification” as a requirement for a ceasefire. Bennett defined “denazification” as the removal of Zelensky. During his meeting in Moscow with Putin, Bennett said the Russian leader guaranteed that he wouldn’t try to kill Zelensky.
The other concession Russia made, according to Bennett, is that it wouldn’t seek the disarmament of Ukraine. For the Ukrainian side, Zelensky “renounced” that he would seek NATO membership, which Bennett said was the “reason” for Russia’s invasion.
Reports at the time reflect Bennet’s comments and said Russia and Ukraine were softening their positions. Citing Israeli officials, Axios reported on March 8 that Putin’s “proposal is difficult for Zelensky to accept but not as extreme as they anticipated. They said the proposal doesn’t include regime change in Kyiv and allows Ukraine to keep its sovereignty.”
Discussing how Western leaders felt about his mediation efforts, Bennett said then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson took an “aggressive line” while French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were more “pragmatic.” Bennett said President Biden adopted “both” positions.
But ultimately, the Western leaders opposed Bennet’s efforts. “I’ll say this in the broad sense. I think there was a legitimate decision by the West to keep striking Putin and not [negotiate],” Bennett said.
When asked if the Western powers “blocked” the mediation efforts, Bennet said, “Basically, yes. They blocked it, and I thought they were wrong.”
Explaining his decision to mediate, Bennett said that it was in Israel’s national interest not to pick a side in the war, citing Israel’s frequent airstrikes in Syria. Bennett said Russia has S-300 air defenses in Syria and that if “they press the button, Israeli pilots will fall.”
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine didn’t stop with Bennett’s efforts. Later in March, Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul, Turkey, and followed up with virtual consultations. According to the account of former US officials speaking to Foreign Affairs, the two sides agreed on the framework for a tentative deal. Russian officials, including Putin, have said publicly that a deal was close following the Istanbul talks.
But the negotiations ultimately failed after more Western pressure. Boris Johnson visited Kyiv in April 2022, urging Zelensky not to negotiate with Russia. According to a report from Ukrainska Pravda, he said even if Ukraine was ready to sign a deal with Russia, Kyiv’s Western backers were not.
Later in April, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said there were some NATO countries that wanted to prolong the war in Ukraine. “After the talks in Istanbul, we did not think that the war would take this long … But, following the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, it was the impression that… there are those within the NATO member states that want the war to continue, let the war continue and Russia gets weaker. They don’t care much about the situation in Ukraine,” Cavusoglu said.
A few days after Cavusoglu’s comments, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin admitted that one of the US’s goals in supporting Ukraine is to see Russia “weakened.”
Correction: This article originally stated that Bennett met with Putin in Moscow on March 4, 2022, but the meeting was held on March 5, 2022.
Why do we constantly sabotage Peace for the benefit of the MIC? Was 250,000 dead bodies worth to have Zelensky remain in power?
Somebody dig up Albright, we need a prop to tell all the Biden arse-kissers that it’s worth it.
So, according to Merkel the Minsk agreement was merely negotiated to buy time for Ukraine’s arms build-up and Western powers (specifically the usual suspects) prevented a peace deal.
Meanwhile Russia has been bombing and shelling its own positions, blowing up its own bridges and income producing pipelines.
What an interesting war!
It should not surprise anyone that Biden and Johnson wanted this war. What is surprising is that Putin stupidly took the bait and now is stuck like the bear that swatted the porcupine.
Putin did not take the bait. Putin was in a position that either one of the 2 choices (wait for Ukraine to attack or do a pre-entive operation ) was bad.
It is like shooting an intruder who is trying to get into your house. Do you shoot him as he is trying to pick the lock or do you wait for the intruder to get in and ask him of his intentions?
It is insane to believe that Ukraine would have attacked Russia. Ukraine does not have the capacity or any motive to invade Russia. Ukraine is winning because they are fighting an asymmetric war of national resistance against a much stronger aggressor on their homeland.
It’s not so much that Ukraine would attack Russia. It’s more that NATO would use Ukraine as a launch pad against Russia.
Hence why Russia was never concerned about Ukraine until they started doing joint exercises with NATO.
Learn some history. Google and Wikipedia aren’t all that hard.
Aren’t those MSM propaganda sites? Why don’t you pick the porcupine barbs out of your paws.
Why don’t you stow it where the sun don’t shine 😉
And there sports fans you have it from the horses mouth , the UK / US want the war to continue at any costs to the Ukrainian people who are taking the brunt of the UK /USA proxy war.
I guess there is a limit to Israel’s influence.
Not in the US Congress.
Is this a sick joke?
What do Zionazis know of “peace”?
PEACE begins at home, MF-ers.
Zionists know a lot about self interest. I am sure Bennett and Netanyahu are not happy that Israel has slipped to become the second biggest recipient of US military aid.
What does Zionism have to do with the topic at hand? An iIsraeli politician tried to increase his public esteem by getting credit for supporting negotiations-its what all politicians do.
You really hate israel that much?
I am no fan of Israel’s military actions. But israel has always been very coldly realistic in their military actions. Why on earth would they not have a cold realism on the side of peace as well?
But, it’s more important to hate israel than to accept they could be right on one thing in one war, ever ever ever… right?
Yeahhhhh, I really do.
Try reading Mondoweiss every day, like I do, and you’ll see why.
Why WOULDN’T I detest an apartheid nation committing incremental genocide?
Btw, are you a “fan” of IsraHelli settlers, who murder and torment the legitimate Palestinian landowners on a daily basis?
Yeahhhhh, I really do.
Try reading Mondoweiss every day, like I do, and you’ll see why.
Why WOULDN’T I detest an apartheid nation committing incremental genocide?
Btw, are you a “fan” of IsraHelli settlers, who murder and torment the legitimate Palestinian landowners on a daily basis?
Whatever Israel’s crimes, they are irrelevant. I said you were more interested in claiming nothing israel did was ever good, no matter the evidence and you said “yes, but it’s ok that I overlook when they’re right because at other times they’re wrong.” This is not only fallacious but also an immoral argument. Though they be the devil we must give the devil his due. I don’t care what you’ve read in mondoweiss and if I read it everyday it wouldn’t convince me to take such an outrageous and immoral stance. It is not right to lie about evil doers just because they are evil doers. That doesn’t change no matter how evil they are.
Don’t hold back Gypsy, tell us what you really think! 😉
Yes, even our “friends” are starting to tell the truth about Biden’s War. This neocon blunder is going to do lasting damage to the US, and somebody will have to pay for that. I just hope it is finally the neocons paying, but so far they have always escaped the consequences of their crimes.
“Bennett said President Biden adopted “both” positions.”
Kinda says it all, doesn’t it.
Yup Bear, dazed and confused…
Or perhaps a corpse, not sure which…
Well, talk about butchering the story. Alex Christoforou from the Duran talks about the interview in his latest video:
Bennett asked Putin that because Zelensky wanted him to. Zelensky was hiding in a bunker under the presidential residence.
Zelensky wouldn’t even let Bennett get back from Russia to Israel before he called, when Bennett was on his way to the airport in Moscow, asking if Putin had promised he wouldn’t kill him.
After Bennett had confirmed to Zelensky that he was safe, Zelensky got out from his bunker and called his film team. THE SAME DAY he made a video boasting that “I am here, I’m not hiding,” daring Putin to come and try to get him. This is in Bennett’s interview. You can see Zel’s bragging in Christoforou’s video. Furthermore, Zelensky had claimed that “Putin is hiding in a bunker under the Kremlin.” Which is actually what Zelensky did.
This site will promote any propaganda in support of war. The TRUTH not so much.
Nothing is ever straight on disqus.
That is not the fault of Disqus.
One would like to hope that ..
Here is some superb band-aid, if I may:
https://consortiumnews.com/2023/02/06/us-laid-trap-for-russia-has-trapped-the-west-instead/
They accuse everyone else of doing what they always do. Zelenskyyyyy must be using a Democrat playbook.
Certainly there was a lot of miscalculation going on in the early stages of this war. I’m thinking that Putin hoped for a quick victory and a quick exit. It has instead turned into just another “forever war” that the Straussian neocons who actually run US foreign policy are so good at. They never negotiate, they always double-down, they are a death cult if there ever was one.
Check out Tom Friedman’s column in today’s NYT — a paean to neocons.
That Friedman’s go-to guy is Robert Kagan, husband of Victoria “f-ck the EU” Nuland says a lot about the abiding neocon hatred for Russia, and Germany.
CD, that all he’s capable of.
Very true, he’s been in the neocon camp for ages. But he usually keeps it sotte voce. Now he’s inviting Robert Kagan to speak directly to his readers, and talking about Great Powers conflict. I consider that a new turn of the screw. Perhaps an indicator of some sort on the media barometer.
Biden to Bennett: Do you still want your yearly 3.8 billion aid from US?!
Bennett: Yes, of course!
Biden: Then, Stop the Peace Deal…!
Two Opposites contradicting each other…!
I think you’ve misinterpreted the first quote. When bennett said there was a “legitimate decision”, he doesn’t mean that the decision was “good”. He means the decision was intentional, and of legally binding authority from the people making the decision. He means to say he thinks there was a decision to prolong the war, and that decision was not made by some schmuck lower down on the hierarchy. He means the decision was from a “legitimate” authority. He means that there is no scapegoat for the politicians who made this decision, because he knows they made it, not some other “illegitimate” decision maker.
So the decision was “legitimate”, but not “good”.
Well, Russia has turned off S-300 based on an agreement with Israel, but they may turn it on if Israel provides Ukraine with the Cotton Dome…!
Why would israel be giving Ukraine a football stadium from texas, and how would this anger russia? what am I missing?
Understanding sarcasm really isn’t your strong point…
No such thing as the “Cotton Dome”. Why would an outdoor stadium have “Dome” in it? AT&T stadium might be what you’re thinking of
I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular. I just googled cotton dome and got a bunch of links and articles and pictures of a stadium in texas.
I don’t know or care if that’s the technical name of the stadium. Its the only thing that shows up. So now this guy makes a comment about the cotton dome, and I have no idea what he’s talking about, so I made a sarcastic comment pointing out that he’s using unproductive rhetoric, and of course instead of catching my sarcasm, he says I’ve failed to catch his sarcasm (which I have! in my opinion, I’ve failed to catch it because of his own incompetence at communicating ideas clearly.)
The OP was making a pun on “Iron Dome.”
You’re welcome.
So basically blah blah war blah.
Bennett remarks clearly corroborate earlier reports on US intervention to derail the peace deal that rapidly shaped up one month (!) after R’s invasion.
As important as Johnson’s sudden – as in ’emergency’ – visit, two weeks later Austin and Blinken visited Ukraine for the first time.
Think about that for a sec’: Both of ’em … After an evacuation of all US personnel, the highest US rep’s short of the President – high reps of both the ‘executive’ and the ‘military’ – shortly after Johnson’s visit, descend on Kiev together…among other things, saying they’d send US diplomats back in…
The pic’ here is the Blinken-Austin trip was ’emergency intervention stage 2: The Return of the Overlords’:
you see, Ukraine had been very naughty when it was allowed to play with Turkey and Russia alone: without the firm, guiding, physical hand of the US…well…Ukraine simply could not be trusted to ‘do the right thing’…
…so Johnson was the stopgap, but the US visit sealed the intervention.
This time it isn’t just “Fuck the EU”; Ms. Nuland ‘s also been saying “Fuck the Ukraine” (her ancestral homeland), and clearly means it. But how is it (not just) this administration (+EU) is so infatuated with, so eager to submit to, this less than charming female swamp-critter?
“how is it (not just) this administration (+EU) is so…eager to submit to” the likes of a Nuland?
yop – among the worst.
https://www.salon.com/2022/04/12/pimps-of-war-neocons-fueled-20-years-of-carnage-in-the-middle-east-are-back-for-more/
It’s a direct reflection on Biden that he has this dirtbag in his state department.
Well, sort of . But the pattern seems to be that this sort are able to navigate their careers above (or below) the changes of White House occupancy. There is a notable consistency in the neocon contribution to the State Department mix across presidential administrations.
https://russian.rt.com/ussr/news/1107042-dezertiry-kremennaya-vsu
Marochko: Armed Forces of Ukraine are deserting due to the offensive of the Russian army in the Kremennaya area
This narrative is becoming more frequent.
Note that all of those peace negotiations took place almost immediately after the conflict started. At that point, the Neocons, obsessed with the destruction of Russia, having planned the war to achieve that end, still believed that they would win. So the idea that they would stand down at that point was utterly ridiculous. Russia was about to be destroyed with China next on the list. Hooray!
Then reality intervened. Whoops! How did that happen?
Well of course, per the standard Neocon playbook — never notice that you’re insane — they doubled down. Try harder, send more weapons, send more money. Grow a set. No time now to wuss out. We know what we’re doing. This will work.
Except … time for reality to intervene again. (That reality thing, so annoying.) Ouch! The Russian economy is doing just fine, strengthening even, the Western economy is cratering — Huh? — and the Ukrainian army is being, in the words of Lloyd Austin, “weakened”.
Clearly, for the reality-disconnected Neocons, it was time to triple down. After all they couldn’t possibly be wrong. So, more weapons, more money, more coke for Zelinsky. Blow up the Nordstrom Pipeline (mostly). Empty the NATO warehouses of old Soviet weapons, enlist assorted mercenaries, and feed it all into the Russian kill zone. Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Meanwhile, reality, apparently inattentive, continues its stubborn refusal to conform to the Neocon fantasy.
As winter approaches, Europe sinks into economic collapse, Russia’s economy flourishes, the Ukrainian army with its fancy American weapons and assorted mercenaries is ground to bits, while the rest of the world, seeing where the future is headed, stocks up on Russian oil as it wisely but discreetly positions itself on the right side of history.
As the end of this drama approaches, I wonder if the Neoconservative criminals will ever be called out and held to account for the disaster they have inflicted on the rest of the world? Or will they manipulate their turnip in the White House to cover their homicidal insanity with a history obliterating nuclear exchange?
Good luck to you all.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eaa3e5f21192c4e9dc3a9f944f9cba32a6b63d15052717df308dade715ab1bbf.jpg
Kiev for the last three weeks has been using chemical weapons in Artyomovsk, Ugledar directions, said Denis Pushilin the DPR leader.
Looks like the US is going to have to Bomb Kiev after all that was the response in Syria. Its all total BS.
What a shame that Russia is not going after the fat b”rd boris like a ton of bricks.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is a very decent man.
“Naftali Bennett, Israel’s new prime minister, is a former commando and self-made tech millionaire who bills himself as further to the right than the man he replaces – Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Sure, let’s call him decent.
I think Bennet rose to the occasion when he negotiated the end of the war in Ukraine.
All parties were happy to accept the deal.
Our very own boris the ignorant swine johnson – may he rot n hell for eternity – killed the deal.
Now we are in a situation where nearly eighty years of reconciliation between Russia and Germany has been effectively cancelled courtesy of the vile s bag johnson, the most unscrupulously devious German chanceler Zdoldz and various other vermin clearly desperate to set the European continent on fire.
MARVELOUS, isn’t it ..
” But, following the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, it was the impression that… there are those within the NATO member states that want the war to continue…” Yes, otherwise known as the Military-Industrial-Complex, which is not only running Congress, but by the looks of it, Youtube coverage as well. And where 60,000 young Americans dying in Vietnam finally put an end to that, they have figured out how to get Americans to spend trillions without killing G.I..’s (so far)
Biden is a LOSER. Just look at how he MIS-handled the U.S. defeat & withdrawal from Afghanistan – total PANIC. Now he backs another LOSER in Zelensky. Taiwan will be next. You wait and see.