Former Israeli PM: Putin promised not to kill Zelenskyy

[dalton99a]

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-politics-government-4ea6bd21cb2ac96dae731ce0e8ac2f22

Former Israeli PM: Putin promised not to kill Zelenskyy
By TIA GOLDENBERG

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A former Israeli prime minister who served briefly as a mediator at the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine says he drew a promise from the Russian president not to kill his Ukrainian counterpart.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett emerged as an unlikely intermediary in the war’s first weeks, becoming one of the few Western leaders to meet President Vladimir Putin during the war in a snap trip to Moscow last March.

While Bennett’s mediation efforts appear to have done little to end the bloodshed that continues until today, his remarks, in an interview posted online late Saturday, shed light on the backroom diplomacy and urgent efforts that were underway to try to bring the conflict to a speedy conclusion in its early days.

In the five-hour interview, which touched on numerous other subjects, Bennett says he asked Putin about whether he intended to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“I asked ‘what’s with this? Are you planning to kill Zelenskyy?’ He said ‘I won’t kill Zelenskyy.’ I then said to him ‘I have to understand that you’re giving me your word that you won’t kill Zelenskyy.’ He said ‘I’m not going to kill Zelenskyy.’”

[Bettie]

1. Right, because Putin would never

lie...

[Model35mech]

11. You were in QUICK, with the WIN!

[Jarqui]

12. And as long as Zelenskyy doesn't get near any open windows ... nt

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Does that mean that the Israeli PM was fine with Russia incorporating Ukraine

as long Putin wouldn't kill Zelensky? Where are the ethics in that?

[tritsofme]

8. That is certainly a strange takeaway.

[EarlG]

9. That might be a stretch

Recall that during the opening weeks of the invasion, pretty much everyone thought that the war would not last long -- Russia would overrun Ukraine quickly and Ukraine's leadership would be decapitated (metaphorically, possibly literally).

In that context, getting Putin to agree to not kill Zelensky nay have seemed like a best case scenario (not that Putin would have kept his promise of course.)

[Thomas Hurt]

3. Seems like Zelenskyy being alive can eff up Putin's plan to install Putin's puppet...

in UKR. Why don't I believe he won't kill him....

[ColinC]

4. My favorite was when he said he wasn't invading Ukraine

[Irish_Dem]

5. Translation: I will kill Zelensky the first chance I get.

[Tetrachloride]

6. "Smeagol lied."

[Justice matters.]

7. Well, putler could have listened to his daily RT hate propagandists but...

He didn't (so far...).

https://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-bomb-attack-russia-ukraine-how-strong-far-2022-2

[Irish_Dem]

10. I wouldn't rule this out.

But I don't think Putin wants more trouble from the west than he already has.

[Justice matters.]

13. That, and the fact radioactive particles fallout could reach Russian territory.

Not to mention the risks of possible nuclear counter strikes from NATO or US arsenal on submarines.

[Irish_Dem]

15. Yes all of that.

He is not stupid.

But he would not worry about radiation in Russia.
The rumor is that if he is in trouble he is going to hightail it to
live in a South American dictatorship country and live the good life.
So a nuked Russia is not a problem for him.

[lpbk2713]

14. No but he could accidentally fall out a skyscraper window.

And Putin would be somewhere else at the time surrounded by dozens of people.