Israel will prevent the breach of sanctions against Russia for the war in Ukraine

Israel, which did not adhere to Western sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, pledged on Monday to prevent such punitive measures from being violated, said the head of Israeli diplomacy.

In recent days, the United States and the European Union increased punitive sanctions against Russia and some tycoons close to Vladimir Putin.

“Israel will not be a way to avoid the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other Western countries,” Yair Lapid said during a trip to Slovakia.

In early March, the Israeli government created a special committee headed by a senior foreign ministry official to implement the “Israeli response to these sanctions,” Israeli diplomacy spokesman Lior Haiat told AFP on Monday, without specifying whether that committee made any recommendations afterwards.

With the United States as its historic ally, Russian forces installed in neighboring Syria and one million of its citizens from the former Soviet Union, Israel is trying to strike a delicate balance, but is criticized by the US government and Ukraine for not adhering to the sanctions plan against Russia.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met on Monday for more than an hour by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he had visited ten days ago in Moscow, according to a senior Israeli official.

He also met with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky on Monday, the official added.

DAC-GL/AWA/EG/JVB