Israel advises President Zelensky not to visit
(Baonghean.vn) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is said to want to visit Israel as a gesture of solidarity following the conflict between the Jewish state and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. However, Israeli media reported on October 16 that Mr. Zelensky was advised not to visit.
Israeli officials reportedly told President Zelensky that “the timing is not right” for the visit, YNet reported. After another trip to Europe, the Ukrainian president wants to travel to Israel with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Mr. Blinken visited the Jewish state on October 16, the second time since the conflict escalated. However, the Israeli side told Ukraine that now was "not the right time" for Zelensky to visit, Ynet said. However, this refusal "does not mean that (President) Zelensky will not visit Israel." According to Ynet, such a visit could come later during the Ukrainian president's possible European tour.
The Ukrainian president’s intention to visit Israel in a show of “solidarity” was first reported by Axios last Wednesday. According to Axios, the visit would bolster “international support for Israel’s counter-offensive against Hamas in Gaza.”
President Zelensky declared that Ukraine fully supports Israel immediately after the surprise attack launched by Hamas early on October 7. President Zelensky has been calling for widespread international support for Israel, stressing that it is necessary in the current circumstances. “This is why I call on all leaders to visit Israel and show support for its people. I am not talking about any organization, but about support for those who were affected by the terrorist attacks and are dying today,” the Ukrainian leader asserted last week.
At the same time, the President seemed to lament that the new escalation in the Middle East had taken international attention away from the Ukraine issue, as the conflict in that country disappeared from the Western media and gave way to Israel.
“If international attention shifts away from Ukraine, one way or another, it will have consequences. The fate of Ukraine depends on the solidarity of the rest of the world,” Zelensky said in an interview with France 2 last Tuesday./.