Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka on Wednesday, marking the first visit by a Ukrainian official to Israel since the beginning of the war with Russia in 2022.
The Foreign Ministry explained that both officials discussed the possibility of creating a joint dialogue to handle the Iranian threat, while Sa’ar also raised the need for Ukraine to recognize both Hamas and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as terror organizations.
The meeting was held at the Foreign Ministry building in Jerusalem, where Sa’ar and Kachka met privately first, then together with their respective teams. This comes after Sa'ar's visit to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, in July.
Kachka’s visit to Israel also focused on his role as the chairman of the Israel-Ukraine Joint Economic Committee, headed by MK Ze'ev Elkin.
Ukraine-Russia War advances, US pushes for peace plan
The visit also comes after Russia claimed to have captured the city of Pokrovsk on Monday, which is seen as a key hub due to its location near major highways and railway lines.
Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s announcement came after the chief of staff of the Russian army center reported to the president, claiming that the military had gained full control of Pokrovsk and nearby Vovchansk.
The Russian defense ministry has since posted videos of soldiers in the “center” of Pokrovsk raising the Russian tricolor flag.
Kyiv fervently denied Putin‘s allegations, asserting that Ukrainian forces have held their defense along the northern line of the city.
At the same time, Russia and the United States did not reach a compromise on a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine after a five-hour Kremlin meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump's top envoys on Wednesday.
Talks in Moscow between Putin and Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner went past midnight.
Afterward, Putin's top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said that "compromises have not yet been found."
Reuters and Corinne Baum contributed to this report.