He plans to discuss Ukraine with Lavrov in the near future
Washington. February 3. INTERFAX - Israel does not believe that a confrontation between Russia and Ukraine could result in an armed conflict in the near future, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told Axios news portal.
"At the moment, our assessment is this: we will not see a violent confrontation in the near future. I also don't think that a world war is about to start there," the minister said.
According to the portal, citing Israeli sources from among officials, in a telephone conversation with Lapid on Monday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken asked Israel for the second time in recent weeks to send a signal to Russia about the need for de-escalation around Ukraine. Lapid "plans to talk about this with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in the coming days."
The Foreign Minister noted that he is in a rather difficult situation, since Israel maintains good relations with both Russia and Ukraine.
"We, like no other country, are obliged to act with caution in relation to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis," Lapid said.
He also said he was concerned that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis could distract the attention of the world community from the Vienna talks on the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
