Ukraine's ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk was summoned on Thursday for a meeting in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem where he was reprimanded over comments he made about Israel's policy on the Ukraine crisis and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.
"I was deeply appalled by the recent remarks of Mr. Lapid regarding his vision of the “Russia-Ukraine conflict”.
I would like to remind Mr. Minister that it is not a conflict - it is a WAR, that Russia aggressively and cynically conducts against Ukraine.," the ambassador said in a Facebook post.
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Ukraine's ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk
(Photo: Ukrainian embassy in Israel)
In an interview given on Wednesday to Axios, Lapid said Israel's assessment is that a violent confrontation would not break out. “I also don’t think a world war is about to start there,” he said.
The ambassador's post went on to lament the comment made by lapid claiming the minister ignored the war which has already lasted eight years.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Minister reiterates rhetoric of Russian propaganda and ignores the disturbing messages from his own strongest allies – the U.S., Britain, and EU regarding the high possibility of full-scale Russian military invasion into Ukraine in coming weeks," he said in his post.
"Sharing Israel's concerns about Iran's nuclear program, I dare to suggest that if a full-scale war breaks out in Europe, Israel will be left face-to-face with the Iranian threat," he wrote prompting the reprimand by the Foreign Ministry.
First published: 21:15, 02.03.22