Medvedev: Israeli Arms Deliveries to Kiev Will Destroy Moscow-Tel Aviv Ties

Kiev began asking Israel to deliver air defense systems and other advanced weaponry earlier this year. Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed "shock" over Tel Aviv's continued intransigence on the matter. On Sunday, Israeli minister of diaspora affairs Nachman Shai said it was time for Israel to reverse course.

The delivery of advanced Israeli weapons systems to Ukraine would destroy interstate ties between Moscow and Tel Aviv, Russian Security Council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev has warned.

"Israel seems to be planning to send weapons to the Kiev regime. This is a very reckless move. It will destroy all interstate relations between our nations," Medvedev wrote in a Telegram post on Monday.

"I won't even mention that the Banderite degenerates were and remain Nazis. It's enough to take a look at their the symbols used by their modern-day henchmen. If they are supplied with weapons, it will be time for Israel to declare [Stepan] Bandera and [Roman] Shukhevych their heroes," he added, referring to the Ukrainian WWII-era ultra-nationalists whose OUN/UPA insurgent force collaborated with the Nazis, and slaughtered tens of thousands of Poles, Jews, Russians and pro-Soviet Ukrainians in the areas of western Ukraine under their control between 1943-1944.

Ukrainian authorities have placed growing pressure on Israel to go ahead with weapons deliveries in recent weeks. "I don't know what happened to Israel. I'm honestly, frankly - I am in shock because I don't understand why they couldn't give us air defenses," President Zelensky said last month in an interview with French media.

On Sunday, a senior Israeli politician called on Tel Aviv to drop any prohibitions on arms deliveries to Ukraine, citing (as yet unconfirmed) reports that Iran has been sending advanced armaments to Moscow.

"This morning it was reported that Iran is transferring ballistic missiles to Russia. There is no longer any doubt where Israel should stand in this bloody conflict. The time has come for Israel to receive military aid as well, just as the USA and NATO countries provide," Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Nachman Shai tweeted.

The Israeli government has taken a staunchly pro-Ukrainian position after Russia began its special military operation to "demilitarize" Ukraine and "de-Nazify" its government in February, accusing Russia of "aggression" and calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities on Kiev's terms. At the same time, Israeli officials have expressed reticence in escalating tensions with Moscow by delivering arms to Kiev. In the course of the Ukrainian crisis, Moscow has slammed Tel Aviv over the suspected operations of Israeli mercenaries in the conflict zone, and rebutted Israeli attacks on Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the diplomat pointed out that Zelensky's Jewish blood was not a legitimate argument for showing that Kiev doesn't have a neo-Nazism problem.

Russia and Israel established diplomatic relations, immediately after the collapse of the USSR. The Soviet Union cut off ties with Tel Aviv in the aftermath of the Israeli war of aggression against Egypt, Jordan and Syria in June 1967, and did not reestablish relations until a week before the socialist nation's disintegration in December 1991.