Russian President Vladimir Putin.Figure: Flip the Russian President’s Twitter
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on the grounds of “denazification” on February 24, it has slaughtered a large number of civilians. It is like “being a Nazi and calling for a Nazi.” The possibility of Jewish ancestry has aroused strong dissatisfaction in Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett revealed on the 5th that Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized for Lavrov’s remarks.
“The prime minister accepts Putin’s apology for Lavrov’s comments and thanks him for clarifying his attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust,” Bennett’s office said in a statement, according to AFP. The summary of the call with Putin did not mention Putin’s apology, only that Putin and Bennett discussed “historical memory” of the Holocaust.
Lavrov was asked on Italian television a few days ago why it was necessary for Russia to “denazify” Ukraine since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is himself a Jew, and he claimed Hitler also had Jewish ancestry. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid described Lavrov’s remarks as “unforgivable and hateful, and a terrible historical mistake”.
According to Kremlin sources, Putin also told Bennett in a phone call on the 5th that Russia was still ready to provide safe passage for the evacuation of civilians trapped in the Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The Kyiv government should order the Ukrainian fighters hiding in the Azov steel plant to lay down their weapons. The sprawling Azov steel plant was surrounded by Russian troops, and Ukrainian defenders, trapped inside, held on for weeks. Some civilians inside have been successfully evacuated through humanitarian corridors, but there are still civilians trapped inside the factory.
