A Ukrainian official dismissed as “fiction” former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's description that he had helped secure the life of President Volodymyr Zelensky and advanced the possibility of ending Russia’s invasion of his country.
Bennett’s claims were “strange,” Senior Zelensky advisor Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted.
He spoke out after Bennett provided details of his trip to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin last March, during a five-hour interview with Channel 12 posted on YouTube on Saturday night.
“Do not be fooled: he is an expert liar. Every time he has promised not to do something, it has been exactly part of his plan.”
Dmytro Kuleba
Putin assured him he would not assassinate Zelensky who at the time was hiding in a secret bunker. He also said he wrought a concession from Zelensky, in which he agreed not to pursue NATO membership. Putin, he said, also agreed not demand Ukrainian disarmament.
Poldolyk tweeted that “claims on "mediation" that Putin allegedly gave "guarantees not to kill" [and] "the West interrupted promising negotiations" are fiction.”
Russia’s invasion “isn’t about "NATO expansion", security guarantees or sanctions, it's [about the Russian Federation’s] desire to destroy [and] kill Ukrainians.”
Kuleba: Putin is an expert liar
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that “In the past, Putin has made promises not to occupy Crimea, not to violate Minsk agreements, not to invade Ukraine, yet he has done all of these things.”
“Do not be fooled: he is an expert liar. Every time he has promised not to do something, it has been exactly part of his plan,” Kuleba said.