From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Ukraine’s envoy to Israel says he’s disappointed Jerusalem won’t send military aid
Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel
Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk says the ongoing talks on the Belarussian border between Ukraine and Russia are not expected to yield fruit, and that Ukraine is disappointed Israel continues to refuse to provide much-needed helmets and military vests for military and civil protection.
“We understood that the talks in Belarus are another trick by Putin in order to use the time to restructure his military forces,” says Korniychuk. “It has no specific serious meeting.”
“But our delegation decided to take part of it in order to not be accused of not taking it seriously,” he adds.
Of the 100 tons of humanitarian aid that Israel sent over the past day to Ukraine, Korniychuk says he is happy to receive the specific antibiotics and medical equipment that his country’s health ministry requested, but that while it’s a nice gesture, much of the equipment sent — including water treatment systems — is not priority.
In addition, Korniychuk mentions that numerous Ukrainians without status are currently being detained in Ben Gurion Airport. According to Korniychuk and a lawyer representing the refugees, they came to Israel to stay with family, but the state is requesting a several thousand shekel deposit in order to let them cross the border.
“Tens of cases are known to us,” the legal representative says.
