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Russia-Israel relations sound, if Israel doesn’t give weapons to Ukraine, says ambassador

“If Israel supplies Ukraine with weapons, it will be considered by the Russian government as an unfriendly act,” Ambassador Viktorov told Kan News.

By World Israel News Staff

The Russian ambassador to Israel on Thursday commented in an exclusive interview with Kan News on Moscow’s relationship with Israel, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.

“We have been working together over the past decades to achieve a good relationship. But any step that does not take cooperation into account could destroy the relationship,” Anatoly Viktorov said.

“If Israel supplies Ukraine with weapons, it will be considered by the Russian government as an unfriendly act,” he warned.

Viktorov revealed in the interview that Israel informs Russia in advance of its decisions regarding Ukraine. “We have a communication channel. We are informed.” Viktorov he said, adding that he wants to assure that Russia is not against Israel, and that Russia takes into account, as in other cases, Israel’s “legitimate security concerns.”

However, according to Viktorov, the Russian-Iranian relationship is “a normal relationship between two countries, and we will continue this relationship.”

Asked about any concern that Russia would use a nuclear bomb in its war with Ukraine, he replied, “No one from the Russian leadership said we would use nuclear weapons. This is fake.”

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Statements from the Western countries in this context are an attempt to “prepare the public for the possibility that such a weapon will be used – I assure you that is not the case on our part.”

As for the Jewish Agency in Russia, he said: “This is a legal issue – not a political one.”

He denied speculation that the tension regarding the Agency reflects Moscow’s dissatisfaction with Israel. “Journalists are claiming things. There is no connection,” he said.