(MENAFN- Hip Hop-24) Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told his US counterpart, Anthony Blinken, that he intends to visit Kyiv soon, at a time when Washington is pressuring Tel Aviv to supply Ukraine with defensive weapons.
Cohen said in a joint press conference with Blinken, on Monday evening, who is visiting Israel from Egypt, that he spoke a few days ago with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kulba, and informed him that the Israeli embassy in Kyiv will return to its full activity in the coming weeks.
Cohen also said that he had expressed to Kulba his intention to visit Kyiv and to be the first minister from the Middle East to visit the city in the near future, according to the state broadcaster's Kan channel.
Earlier Monday evening, Blinken had stressed, during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukraine's need for aid "on the security side, not only on the humanitarian side."
According to Blinken, the issue of aid to Ukraine also came up in the talks with Netanyahu.
Until now, Israel has avoided aiding Ukraine militarily, "fearing a harsh reaction from Moscow," according to the Hebrew newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth.
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, while the latter relies on its Western allies to supply it with weapons.
In another context, the Israeli foreign minister, during his meeting with Blinken, called for Washington's help to obtain approval from the Sultanate of Oman for Israeli planes to fly over its airspace, according to Kan.
And last August, Hebrew media, including the "Israel Today" newspaper, said that the Sultanate of Oman refused to open its airspace to Israeli flights, "after severe pressure exerted on it by Iran."
And the newspaper added at the time, "This means that at the present time, it is not possible to take advantage of the opening of Saudi airspace to Israeli flights in order to shorten the flight paths to the Far East."
Israel is Blinken's second stop on his current tour, which he launched from Egypt and will end tomorrow in the Palestinian territories.
At the beginning of his visit, Blinken condemned the recent Palestinian attacks and called on the Palestinian and Israeli sides to calm down, stressing that "everything that distances us from the two-state solution harms Israel's security."
MENAFN31012023007066015264ID1105499128
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.