Kiev will work to pressure Israel to end the bloodshed in Gaza, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky said during his trip to Singapore on Sunday, almost eight months into the Israel-Hamas war.
Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security conference, Zelensky reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself from “Hamas terrorists.” He also raised concerns over the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave, besieged by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
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“After Israel [entered] the territory of Gaza, there has been a humanitarian crisis,” Zelensky noted, adding that Kiev is ready to help with the delivery of aid to the enclave.
“International law must be respected,” Zelensky stressed. “Ukraine will recognize two states: Israel and Palestine. And will do everything to make Israel stop, so this conflict could end, and civilians would not be hurt.”
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Last year, Zelensky complained that the fighting in Gaza was distracting the world from Kiev’s conflict with Moscow. “We can already see the consequences of the international community shifting [attention] because of the tragedy in the Middle East,” he told the Associated Press after Ukraine’s costly summer counteroffensive failed to win significant territory.
Unlike many Western countries, Israel has refused to impose sanctions on Russia and has ruled out sending weapons to Kiev.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its operation in Gaza in response to the October 7 Hamas attack. US President Joe Biden revealed last week that Israel had proposed a new ceasefire deal to Hamas, which includes the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.