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Ex-Israeli PM Says Russia and Ukraine Were Eager to End War Early Last Year — But U.S. and Allies Interfered

Naftali Bennett / YouTubeNaftali Bennett, then the prime minister of Israel, found himself praying aboard a cramped, decrepit plane last year as it sailed over Kazakhstan. The long flight, arranged with help from the Mossad, was bound for Moscow on a desperate mission: broker peace between Russia and Ukraine just after the two countries had gone to war.According to Bennett, Russian President Vladimir Putin made two major concessions during their March 5 meeting. First, he renounced “denazification”—that is, regime change in Kiev. Second, he dropped his demand for Ukraine’s demilitarization. Bennett said President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to abandon Ukraine’s pursuit of NATO membership in exchange. Both Putin and Zelensky seemed eager to end the fighting. But the U.S. had other plans.Bennett said a “decision by the West” was made “to keep striking Putin” through Ukraine. “They blocked it and I thought they were wrong,” he said. Bennett noted that the governments of Germany and France were pragmatic toward the idea compared to the U.S. and the U.K., which took a more belligerent attitude against Russia.Considering the U.K. is little more than a neutered lapdog of D.C., it is more than likely that it was the U.S. who decided to keep the war going. Indeed, Bennett said he deferred “to America in this regard.”In an interview with author and comedian Hanoch Daum, Bennett provided a behind-the-scenes look at his efforts to establish a ceasefire and how it initially showed promise until being doomed by imperial intrigue. It was the first time time he talked about his attempt to mediate peace between the two countries. “There are many Jews in Ukraine and Russia,” Bennett told Daum about his motives, “and as prime minister of the Jewish state I have a responsibility.” It was a race against time to end the war before many civilians were killed. His solution was “creating contact with both sides and trying to mediate,” leveraging his good relations with Putin and Zelensky. “I was under the impression both sides very much want a ceasefire,” he said. Bennett maintained contact with the governments of Germany, France, the U.K., and the U.S. throughout the negotiations, keeping them appraised as talks, mostly by phone, progressed. While Putin was open to diplomacy, the U.S. was not, according to Bennett.I knew that the trust I had formed with Putin was a rare commodity. America didn’t know how to communicate at that time, neither does it know today. I don’t think there was anyone else who had the trust of both sides. Maybe [Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan] to a degree. That’s one thing. The second thing, I set a rule, a lot of humanitarian aid, but no supply of weapons. I informed Putin of whatever I did. I told Putin [by phone call], “I’m setting up a field hospital in Lvov.” So he said, “If you give me your word that it won’t be a hiding place for weapons or soldiers, that it won’t be used for military purposes, then no problem. I’ll ensure it’s not bombed.Bennett described Putin as “pragmatic” and not “Messianic” but governed by limited, concrete objectives, contra the Western portrait of him as a madman bent on world domination.Putin does not think of himself as an imperialist, Bennett said, but as someone fighting against imperialism in the form of NATO expansionism. “Putin’s perception was … when the [Berlin] Wall came down, we reached an agreement with NATO, that they wouldn’t expand NATO and would not touch the belt countries that envelop Russia.” Bennett noted that incorporating Ukraine into NATO has long been central to Russia’s security concerns, which Bennett likened to the Monroe Doctrine. The U.S. wouldn’t tolerate China incorporating Mexico into a hostile military alliance. Why would Ru …

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