“The Prime Minister took off for Moscow early Saturday  morning, after the conversation between the leaders last Wednesday,” the statement said.

Following the Moscow meeting, Bennett left for Berlin, where he is scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who made a short visit to Israel earlier this week.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is meeting Saturday evening with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

According to Reuters, they are discussing the war in Ukraine.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the two have been meeting for the past 2.5 hours. “The Prime Minister took off for Moscow early this morning, after the conversation between the leaders last Wednesday,” the statement said.

Bennett is being accompanied by Housing Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who is serving as his translator, along with National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata, diplomatic adviser Shimrit Meir and spokesman Matan Sidi.

Bennett has offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, and held several calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin in recent days.

The Israel premier is the first western leader to meet Putin since the invasion of Ukraine ten days ago.

The Prime Minister was working in coordination with the United States, Germany and France, and though he has been in ongoing contact with Ukraine, Israeli media reported that he phoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday and the latter refused to take his call, since he was aware of Bennett’s imminent visit to Moscow.

After the meeting at the Kremlin, however, Bennett and Zelensky spoke on the phone, according to subsequent reports.

Bennett and Putin also discussed the situation of Israelis and the Jewish community of Ukraine as a result of the conflict, an official said. Bennett stressed his opposition to the Iranian nuclear talks taking place in Vienna and an Iranian nuclear deal, as well.

Following the Moscow, Bennett left for Berlin, where he is scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Bennett and Elkin both observe the Jewish Sabbath and flying on Saturday indicates that there was an urgent national security need.

The meeting comes as Israel has been trying to balance the national security importance of coordination with Russia before airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria, where the Russian Army is the dominant force, with Israel’s strongest strategic alliance with the US and support for democracy and international order.