KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Israel and Ukraine on Thursday agreed to step up cooperation in a shared struggle against Iran, Israel’s foreign minister announced, as he wrapped up the first visit to Kyiv by a senior Israeli official since Russia’s invasion last year.
But Foreign Minister Eli Cohen gave few details on what type of cooperation would take place. He also gave no indication that Israel had met a longstanding Ukrainian request to join the U.S. and other Western allies in providing weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy, citing the country’s nuclear program, its hostile rhetoric and its support for militant groups along Israel’s borders.
With Iran now providing attack drones to Russia in the Ukrainian war, Israel could be in a position to assist Ukraine with intelligence on arms shipments and expertise on how to counter the aerial threats.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, Cohen was evasive. “We spoke about deepening cooperation with Ukraine against the Iranian threat in the international arena,” he said.
Since the outbreak of the war, Israel has walked a tightrope between assisting Ukraine and avoiding friction with Russia, with which it has strategic regional interests. Unlike other western countries, Israel has not imposed sanctions on Russia or Russian officials or provided Ukraine with weapons.
Continue reading at apnews.com
Israel Is Arming Ukraine’s Blatantly Neo-Nazi Militia, the Azov Battalion
Jul 6, 2018
A shocking new report in the Electronic Intifada reveals that Ukrainian neo-Nazis are using Israeli weapons to fight Russia.
Journalist Max Blumenthal discusses the SS-wearing Azov Battalion, a neo-Nazi militia that uses Hitlerian symbols and is embedded in the National Guard of Ukraine, which also receives support from the US and Canada.
Published at imemc.org
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