Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, February 27, 2022. Abir Sultan/Pool via REUTERS

Israel is prepared to act as a mediator in the intensifying conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a Sunday phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During the conversation, Bennett asked to serve as a mediator with a “view to suspend military operations,” according to a readout released by the Kremlin. The two leaders agreed to remain in close contact.

The Israeli prime minister’s office confirmed that Bennett spoke with Putin on Sunday, saying the two “discussed the situation between Russia and Ukraine.”

The Kremlin readout also claimed that Putin told Bennett of a Russian delegation dispatched to Gomel in southern Belarus to hold peace talks with Ukrainian officials, who did not take up the “opportunity.”

Israel informed the Biden administration ahead of the phone call between Bennett and Putin, and briefed its US ally afterward about what was discussed, Israel’s Walla news outlet reported.

Sunday’s call comes after Bennett spoke on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the escalation in Ukraine, with a focus on the Kyiv region. Bennett expressed his hope for a speedy end to the fighting and offered humanitarian assistance, while Zelensky reportedly.asked the Israeli premier to intercede with Putin on behalf of Ukraine and attempt to halt the Russian invasion.

Later on Sunday, Zelensky agreed for a Ukrainian delegation to meet with Russian officials without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River.

As Israel has vested interests with Russia, which is militarily involved in neighboring Syria, as well as Ukraine, senior officials have sought to avoid publicly choosing a side. In January, Walla reported that Ukrainian officials asked Bennett last year to host a Russia-Ukraine mediation summit in Jerusalem, a proposal Bennett agreed to raise during an October meeting with Putin.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council on Sunday called for an emergency special session on Ukraine in the UN General Assembly scheduled for Monday to hold a vote on a resolution that will hold Russia to account for its actions and uphold the UN Charter.

“That will take some courage from some fellow Member States, and I know that,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement on Sunday.

Bennett told a cabinet meeting on Sunday, that Israel plans to vote in favor of the US-led proposal to the UN General Assembly that will call for a ceasefire and condemn Russia, according to Israel’s Ynet news.