Ukrainian FM said to snub Lapid’s request for phone call

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is being snubbed by his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, according to a pair of Hebrew media reports.

The Haaretz daily and Walla news site say Lapid sought to speak with Kuleba last week, but was told the Ukrainian foreign minister was busy. Lapid has not heard back since.

Both reports noted that the two have not spoken for over three months. Walla quoted an unnamed Ukrainian official saying that was one of the reasons Kuleba had not gotten back to Lapid, and also because Israel’s top diplomat phoned Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, but not him, in the weeks leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Lapid also reportedly did not respond to an invitation to visit Kyiv, which was relayed by Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova, when she visited Israel last month.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid hosts Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova in Jerusalem, February 13, 2022 (via Twitter)

“Israel maintains continuous contact with the government of Ukraine and Foreign Minister Lapid more than once condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We will continue to help Ukraine as much as possible,” Lapid’s office says in response.