Business Insider USRussian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during their meeting, in Sochi, on October 22, 2021. He asked the Russian president directly if he planned to kill Volodymyr Zelenskyy. For more stories, go toFormer Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made President Putin promise not to kill Ukraine's President Zelenskyy, he said in a and was one of the few Western leaders to visit Moscow.
The former prime minister said he directly asked Putin if he planned to harm Zelenskyy."I asked, 'what's with this? Are you planning to kill Zelenskyy?'" said Bennett, "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.'"Bennett also said that in his mediation, Putin stepped back from his pledge to demand Ukraine's disarmament, and Zelesnkyy promised that Ukraine would not join NATO.
Bennett's attempts at meditation were tested by Russia when Putin had to apologize to him after Moscow's top diplomat previously accused Israel of being pro-Nazi over its support of Ukraine.