In early March 2022, Israel’s then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attempted to mediate a peace between Russia and Ukraine, but it was blocked by Great Britain. His account appeared yesterday in a five-hour conversation with journalist Hanoch Daum, and posted to Bennett’s YouTube channel and headlined “Bennett Speaks Out.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK9tLDeWBzs)
He says that both Moscow and Kiev had made important concessions and were close to a truce agreement. “I claim there was a good chance of reaching a ceasefire.” He claimed that Putin had agreed to forgo the demands of “denazification” and disarmament for Ukraine, and Zelenskyy had agreed not to seek NATO membership. Bennett adds that his mediation “was coordinated down to the last detail with the U.S., France and Germany,” which ultimately made the final decisions.
However, evidently, the British intervened.
Bennett described the situation as quoted by “AZgeopolitics” website: “Boris Johnson advocated more radical measures. And Macron and Scholz are more pragmatic, let’s say. And Biden supported both approaches.” While he did not directly state that BoJo prevailed over Biden, when asked whether the allies ended up blocking the negotiations, he answered: “By and large, yes. They blocked it, and I thought that they’re wrong.…” Bennett said that he thought there was a good chance of success, but that there was a “decision by the West to keep striking Putin,” and not to negotiate.
The former Prime Minister said that the reason given by the Western powers to end negotiations was “complex,” but that they had wanted to create a perception which would scare other “thugs in the world,” and mentioned that this “reflects on other arenas such as China, Taiwan, and there are consequences.” Ultimately, Bennett said, the West went with the more radical, i.e., British, approach.