Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, May 29, 2022. Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – Israel’s former prime minister Naftali Bennett said in an interview on Saturday that at the beginning of the Ukraine war Russian President Vladimir Putin promised him that he wouldn’t kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to Bennett, the conversation took place during his three-hour meeting with Putin in early March 2022. The Israeli politician flew to Moscow attempting to mediate the unfolding military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He claimed that it “was coordinated with the U.S..”

“I knew Zelensky was under threat, in a bunker,” Bennett recalled.

“I said to [Putin], ‘Do you intend to kill Zelensky?’ He said, ‘I won’t kill Zelensky,’” he continued.

“I need to understand. Are you giving me your word that you won’t kill Zelensky?” Bennett asked the Russian leader, who once again assured him: “I won’t kill Zelensky.”

The ex-prime minister said he then called Zelensky to share the news. According to Bennett, Putin also vowed not to demand the disarming of Ukraine.

Bennett’s interview comes shortly after former British prime minister Boris Johnson said in a documentary that Putin threatened to murder him with a missile several days before invading Ukraine. Johnson said he had warned the Russian leader about the West’s response to Moscow’s aggression but was told he could become the target himself.