Naftali Bennett secretly travels to Moscow to meet with Putin, has 3 conversations with Zelensky, as Israel offers to mediate Russia-Ukraine crisis

• The Israeli Prime Minister traveled to Moscow in secret to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Israel has offered to mediate the crisis between Russia and Ukraine. 
• Naftali Bennett has spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky three times in 24 hours.

The Israeli Prime Minister met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and held a series of calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this weekend.

This follows Israel’s offer to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, at the behest of Zelensky, per Reuters.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennet secretly traveled to Moscow on Saturday to meet with Putin to discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Saturday marked the tenth day of Russia’s war on its neighbor. 

“The meeting took place after a long series of talks between the Prime Minister and leaders over the past week,” an Israeli official told Insider.

It lasted about three hours, the official said, and also touched upon the situation for Israelis and Jewish communities in Ukraine and the progress of nuclear talks in Vienna, the official added.

After the talk, Bennett flew to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

On Sunday, Israel’s Government Press Office said that Bennett spoke with Zelensky.

This was the third time the two leaders had spoken within 24 hours. The two previous calls took place on Saturday evening, after the meeting with Putin, the press office said.

Bennett also had a conversation with President of France Emmanuel Macron.

Western nations have imposed a series of economic sanctions on Russia and blocked the country from international banking systems, among other measures. Western leaders have also supplied weapons to Ukraine and many neighboring countries have accepted the Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, but have been hesitant to put boots on the ground. 

Putin spoke out on Saturday against the possibility of countries imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, arguing it would signal their involvement in the war. 

“We will immediately consider them as participants in a military conflict, and it doesn’t matter members of which organizations they are,” Putin said, according to a tweet from the RIA Novosti, a Russian state-owned news outlet.