A day after Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's surprise visit to Ukraine, and while Cohen is making his way back to Israel, more details about his meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky are coming to light. The two, it was reported, agreed that Israel and Ukraine would cooperate and initiate new sanctions against Iran in different international forums.
Zelensky told Cohen at the meeting that it is important that Israel and Ukraine cooperate on the Iranian issue. "We also have something to contribute to you in this," he said alluding to the extensive experience Ukraine has acquired in intercepting Iranian drones. Cohen said at the end of his visit: "We talked about deepening cooperation with Ukraine against the Iranian threat in the international arena. Iran's evil face was revealed in Ukraine."
must be condemned and that severe practical steps must be undertaken by the international community.
— אלי כהן | Eli Cohen (@elicoh1) February 16, 2023
I assured him that Israel would expand the level of aid we provide, and that we would be partners in the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war.
📸: Shlomi Amsalem, GPO
Placing the Iranian issue at the top of the agenda was one of Cohen's goals during his visit. Ukraine is currently considered an influential country in the international arena, and Israel considers it very important and wanted to harness it in the fight against Iran, since now both countries have a "common enemy", as Zelensky defined it. In his talks with the President as well as with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kolba, the Israeli Foreign Minister gave ideas on how to deal with the threat of Iranian drones flying over Ukraine.
The Ukrainians made a series of requests for military assistance, with an emphasis on defensive measures and air defense systems. Cohen did not rule this out but told Zelensky: "Israel is in a complex situation and it is neither Portugal nor Canada. We have a common border with Russia [in Syria] and Israel has the Iranian threat. The State of Israel is helping a lot, despite the complex situation it is in.” Cohen promised that the smart civil warning system will arrive from Israel to Ukraine within three to six months and that he will make an effort to advance the schedules.
🚨🇮🇱🇺🇦 Israeli FM on his first official visit to Ukraine in 2 years, pledges a $200mn "Loan" to Ukraine. No weapons will be supplied at this point.
— ISRAEL IRAN UPDATES💥BREAKING 🔴 NEWS (@IranLatestNews) February 16, 2023
Peace talks between #Ukraine and #Russia brokered by Israel will start soon. pic.twitter.com/hoECZYazWS
In total, Cohen stayed 12 hours on Ukrainian soil, even though the journey there, as well as the journey back to Israel, was grueling. It included two trips by night trains from Poland to Kyiv and from Kyiv back to Poland, and the culmination of the visit was a meeting between Cohen and Zelensky.
The two met in the presidential complex, and Cohen was accompanied by many armed security guards, who led him through dark dungeons that they illuminated with flashlights to where the threatened president was staying.
