Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the possibility of holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after Netanyahu reportedly requested negotiations with Zelenskyy over the past few days.
According to Israeli media outlets, Netanyahu is interested in Ukraine’s interceptor drones, which have proven to be the most affordable and the most efficient against Iranian drones.
Same outlets reported that Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk confirmed that Kyiv has received the request and added that a meeting will likely take place early next week.
Euronews has reached out to the Ukrainian embassy in Israel for comment.
Zelenskyy said he is prepared to hold the talks, but did not specify when they might take place. He however hinted that Kyiv’s assistance would be subject to an exchange.
"(Netanyahu) has what I need and I have what he needs. So I’m ready for this dialogue," Zelenskyy said.
Although Zelenskyy did not provide more details on what exactly Ukraine would want to receive from Israel, in a separate statement, he said that even the most sophisticated air defence system cannot be that efficient against Iranian drones.
“Thousands of Patriot missiles cannot stop tens of thousands of Iranian Shaheds," Zelenskyy said, adding that one such drone is “forty times cheaper than a single Patriot missile," let alone the whole system.
“Ukraine has the entire air defence system, except for anti-ballistic capabilities.”
Kyiv has already dispatched three teams of military experts to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Zelenskyy said on 10 March.
He also confirmed that Ukraine sent a team of experts and drone interceptors to help defend US bases in Jordan at Washington's request. US President Donald Trump denied the request was made, saying no such support is needed.
Trump then separately stated, "The last person we need help from is Zelenskyy”.
Ukraine’s complex relations with Israel
Zelenskyy and Netanyahu met only once since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2023.
Ukraine’s president had been trying to negotiate with Israel’s premier for more support to Ukraine’s defence and a more coordinated strategy against Iranian weapons transferred to Russian forces fighting against Ukraine.
Following the meeting in New York in 2023, Zelenskyy said Ukraine and Israel were sharing “concern about the increasing military cooperation between Russia and Iran.”
A statement from Netanyahu at the time said that “Israel would continue to assist Ukraine on humanitarian issues, including dealing with anti-personnel mines.”
Israel did not impose sanctions against Russia when the Kremlin started its all-out war against Ukraine, and has kept cordial relations with Moscow as well.
