Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday night about the safety of some 8,000 Israelis who are in Ukraine.
Lapid also updated Blinken on Israeli plans to offer humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
Blinken in turn spoke with Lapid about US steps regarding Ukraine and the two men agreed to speak again in the coming days. Earlier in the night, US President Joe Biden had announced sanctions against Russia in light of its military attack on Ukraine.
Top Israeli leaders, including Lapid, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Isaac Herzog have all urged Israelis to leave. The Foreign Ministry has staff stationed at border crossings to neighboring countries to help Israelis exiting Ukraine.
Earlier in the evening, Bennett chaired a meeting on the Russian-Ukrainian crisis at the Kiryah Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Finance Avigdor Liberman attended the meeting.
The group examined plans to rescue Israelis in Ukraine as well as Ukrainian Jews, including the option of absorbing them as new immigrants in Israel.