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

Naftali Bennett, the then prime minister of Israel was found praying on a small, cramped plane over Kazakhstan last year. With the help of the Mossad the long flight was arranged to take off for Moscow with the desperate mission of brokering peace between Russia, Ukraine, and the other countries that had been at war.

Bennett claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin made two significant concessions during the course of their meeting. March 5, 2009 meeting. First, he gave up. “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 Zelensky, Putin, and Zelensky appeared eager to stop fighting. However, the U.S. had different plans.

Bennett said a “decision by the West” It was made “to keep striking Putin” Ukraine “They blocked it and I thought they were wrong,” He stated. Bennett pointed out that France and Germany were more open to the idea than the U.S. and U.K. which had a more hostile attitude towards Russia.

Given that the U.K. is essentially a D.C. lapdog, it is likely that the U.S. decided to continue the war. Indeed, Bennett said he deferred “to America in this regard.”

In Hanoch Daum, comedian and author, interviews usBennett offered a behind the scenes view of his attempts to reach a ceasefire. It was a look at how it started out promising but ended up being destroyed by imperial intrigue. He spoke for the first time about his attempts to mediate peace among the two countries.

“There are many Jews in Ukraine and Russia,” Daum was informed by Bennett about Bennett’s motives. “and as prime minister of the Jewish state I have a responsibility.” It was a race against all odds to end the war before many civilians were murdered.

His solution? “creating contact with both sides and trying to mediate,” He is leveraging his good relationships with Putin and Zelensky. “I was under the impression both sides very much want a ceasefire,” He stated. Bennett kept in touch with the U.K., France, Germany and France throughout the negotiations. They were appraised during the talks, which were mostly conducted by telephone. Bennett said that while Putin was open for diplomacy, the U.S. wasn’t.

The trust I had built with Putin was rare. 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. Perhaps [Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan] to a degree. That’s one thing. Second, I established a rule that provided a lot humanitarian assistance but not weapons. I informed Putin about everything I did. Putin was also informed. [by phone call], “I’m setting up a field hospital in Lvov.” So he stated. “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 he was governed by specific, limited objectives. This is contrary to the Western portrayal of him as a madman bent upon world dominance.

Bennett stated that Putin doesn’t consider himself an imperialist but rather a person fighting against imperialism through 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 Russia allow the U.S. the same with Ukraine

“So I called the Americans, [Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken], [President Joe] Biden, and [Jake] Sullivan, the National Security Advisor, and I said, ‘I have Putin’s ear, I can be a pipeline.” Bennett claims that “Zelensky initiated the request to contact Putin. Zelensky called me and asked me to contact Putin.” Bennett reiterated Zelensky contacted him to help mediate peace talks. “Keep in mind, he knows that his days are numbered, that he’ll be killed.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was worried about the impending German energy crisis and its implications. “I tell [Scholz] about my discussion with Putin and Putin says, ‘We can reach a ceasefire.’”

Bennett started coordinating with other nations while receiving calls from Zelensky and Putin.

“So I start talks back and forth, Putin-Zelensky, Zelensky-Putin.” He was surprised to find that both sides were willing and able to accept concessions after the initial round of posturing. “Drafts are exchanged, not only through us, directly as well. They’re in Belarus in a city called Gomel.” 28 February In Belarus, Gomel region was the venue for talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. Bennett stated that however “the world looked down on” The diplomatic attempt, he “considered it a good thing that they were talking and exchanging.”

Bennett realized that there was no way to make a breakthrough in the area and they were running out time before the war became more catastrophic. He continued to search for a solution, communicating with other governments constantly. “I explained it to the Americans. Everything I did was fully coordinated with Biden, with [French President Emmanuel Macron], with [then-Prime Minister of the U.K. Boris Johnson], with Scholz, and obviously with Zelensky.”

He was confident peace was possible, contra Washington, who didn’t believe it was—or rather, didn’t want to see a ceasefire born. Bennet’s interviewer asked the obvious: “Maybe they didn’t want you to succeed.”

Yet he tried, encouraged by both Putin and Zelensky’s willingness to move forward.

Bennett arrived in Moscow on March 5th for a visit to the Kremlin. It was a rainy and cold day. Bennett spent hours researching the history of Russia and Ukraine, consulting experts and learning all he could about increasing the chances of success. It was a successful venture.

“When I met Putin, he made two big concessions that are obvious now, that weren’t at the time.” Putin is an important factor “renounced the denazification, i.e. taking out Zelensky.”

“Are you going to kill Zelensky?” Bennett asked. “I won’t kill Zelensky,” Putin responded. Zelensky had been hiding from Putin in a “secret bunker” Bennett stated that Bennett was speaking at the time. “I have to understand that you’re giving your word that you won’t kill Zelensky.” Putin stated again “I won’t kill Zelensky.”

“After the meeting, in the car from the Kremlin to the airport, I contacted Zelensky by WhatsApp or Telegram,” Bennett said. “I call Zelensky and say, ‘I came out of a meeting, he’s not going to kill you.’ [Zelensky] asks, ‘are you sure?’”

“100 percent, he won’t kill you.”

Bennett recalled: “Two hours later, Zelensky went to his office, and did a selfie in the office, [in which the Ukrainian president said,] ‘I’m not afraid.’” Zelensky also recorded himself saying the following on March 7, when Putin had reportedly promised Bennett that he would spare him. “I’m not hiding and I’m not afraid of anyone,” In his presidential office This was the first time this has happened since the war began.

Juxtaposed against a Western media machine that insisted that a mad Russian autocrat wouldn’t stop at Kiev but reach further and further, Bennett was on the verge of a breakthrough.

When Zelensky and Putin expressed concerns about Western security guarantees—Zelensky wanted them, but was worried about their fragility. Putin viewed them as a strength. “no different than NATO”—Bennett proposed the “Israeli model” of self-sufficiency: no guarantees beyond one’s own military force as deterrence against foreign aggression. According to Bennett, Ukraine and Russia were amenable to the idea—“they both accepted.”

Bennett began to share the good news with other countries after the meeting at Moscow. It happened.

Bennett was “blocked” By “the West” From pursuing peace. He said that if he had been negotiating directly on behalf of his Israel’s national interests, he would have ignored the call and stood firm. “Here, I don’t have a say,” He stated. “I’m just the mediator, but I turn to America in this regard, I don’t do as I please.”

It was later reported Boris may have been involved in the attempt to stop negotiations. In this context, the U.K. seems almost insignificant. Only the United States, the superpower that can kill a peace agreement for Ukraine is capable of doing so if Zelensky AND Putin are willing to sign. It’s has happened before, too.

As I Contra was previously written about. Maurice Gourdault – Montagne, a former top French foreign policy aide, said last year, that the U.S. had killed similar diplomatic negotiations in 2006.

France was the mediator this time, but the objective was the same: satisfy Russia’s security concerns while guaranteeing Ukrainian sovereignty. Chirac was strongly pro-Ukraine, but also considered Russia a peer and had legitimate concerns that NATO would be used to support U.S.-led imperialism. Gourdault Montagne claimed that the peace agreement was not a peaceful one. “a reciprocal protection of Ukraine, by Russia on one hand, and NATO on the other; this would have been overseen by the Russia-NATO Council, which had been created in the early 2000s.”

The Russians accepted, and the French diplomat went to Washington. This was the end of the road to peace. An Interview Gourdault-Montagne stated:

Then I went to the Americans, to Condoleezza Rice in Washington, who was Secretary of State at the time, and who had been my counterpart during the Iraq War—I knew she was, I would say, hardline, but also sometimes pragmatic. This was completely unexpected. She looked at the paper and said: “You, the French, for a long time you held up the first wave of East European countries joining NATO, you will not hold up the second wave.” This was when we realized that the American plan to bring Ukraine into NATO was in full force and time.

Someone, maybe Mark Twain, said that history doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme. Bennett’s discovery is a reminder of how the U.S. calls the war tune for decades.

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