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Kremlin keeping a close eye on Israel-Ukraine rapprochement

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog (C), review a guard of honor.
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The recent visit of Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov to Israel took place with sparse media coverage at the request of the host country. Official statements only noted that Reznikov and Eyal Khulata, Israel's National Security Council head, discussed urgent security issues. According to some media reports, Israel asked the guests to be careful with public speeches and not to give interviews so as not to irritate the Kremlin once again. Moscow insists on urgent and legally enshrined guarantees of refusal to expand NATO and, through a new deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine, is trying to impose the parameters of a security system in Europe.

Unsurprisingly, Russia defiantly confuses defense policy and business when it comes to the post-Soviet space. An example of this are the Turkish-made Bayraktar drones, which the Ukrainian side has already begun to use in Donbass. Ankara has publicly emphasized the difference between the official line of the state and sales of military equipment, but Moscow is not convinced. Meanwhile, Ukraine needs to develop ties, strengthen its economic and military potential, and is not in submissive self-isolation due to the whims of the Russian leadership.

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