Russian President Vladimir Putin called Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his election victory and the establishment of a new government, Netanyahu's office said on Thursday.
According to the statement, the call mainly revolved around the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Netanyahu told the Russian leader he hopes a resolution to end hostilities will be found as soon as possible and the consequent suffering.
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Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Sochi, Russia, in 2019
(Photo: GPO)
Netanyahu also told President Putin that he is determined to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Tehran's attempts to establish military presence in Lebanon and Syria along Israel's northern border.
The call between Netanyahu and Putin, who have a long relationship dating back to the prime minister-designate's previous governments, comes almost two months after Netanyahu's religious-conservative bloc secured a decisive election victory.
Netanyahu spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is currently in Washington, on November 7, six days after the election.
The Likud chief then promised the Ukrainian leader that he would "examine the Ukraine issue" after his accession to the premiership. According to Ukrainian officials, Zelensky requested Israeli weapons during the call and invited Netanyahu to visit Kyiv.
During the election campaign, Netanyahu said that he would consider supplying Ukraine with Israeli arms if elected, and would also consider acting as a mediator between Moscow and Kyiv.
Previous mediation efforts to end the fighting, by former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan among others, have failed.