Russia-Ukraine crisis: Israel has offered to mediate peace, says Kremlin

The Kremlin says Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has offered to help broker an end to fighting in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said Bennett told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a call on Sunday that Israel is ready to play mediator. It didn’t say whether the Russian leader accepted the offer.

The Kremlin said Putin told Bennet that Russia has sent a delegation to Gomel in southern Belarus to conduct peace talks with Ukrainian officials, who have refused to come.

Ukrainian officials described the Russian move as a “manipulation,” noting that Ukraine hasn’t agreed to hold talks in Belarus.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenssy emphasized the country’s readiness for peace talks but said that they can’t be held in Moscow’s ally Belarus, which has allowed Russia to use its territory as a staging ground for the attacks that began Thursday.