Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk on Monday thanked Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for his efforts to mediate the crisis and for the humanitarian aid Israel has sent his besieged country.
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"We don't know if it will work, but the fact that the prime minister left on Saturday is unprecedented and I do not remember such a thing ever happening [before]. We must work in every way to achieve peace, for me as ambassador it is very important," he said.
"We welcome Israel's support, people are helping in every way possible and over 400 tons of equipment have been collected," he said, adding: "Please wait with the donations because we have nowhere to put them at this time."
He did, however, urge the government to do more to take in Ukrainian refugees.
"So far, European countries have absorbed 1.5 Ukrainians and we believe Israel will show such solidarity as well," Korniychuk said, adding: "Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia. I ask Israeli businesses to take an example from international and American companies and do the same."
He noted that Kyiv has appealed to Jerusalem to block "Russian propaganda channels" and asked Israel to send Ukraine defensive weapons systems.
"For us, there is a genocide against our people. It's like your Yom Kippur [War]," he said. "We have done nothing to you," he called to Russia
Ukraine on Monday rejected a Russian proposal to evacuate civilians from besieged Ukraine to Russia and Belarus, calling the suggestion "immoral," as it is the Kremlin's aggression that has forced Ukrainians to flee their homes.
Russia announced the new "humanitarian corridors" will allow Ukrainians trapped under its bombardment to cross into Russia itself and its ally Belarus. The announcement came after two days of failed ceasefires to let civilians flee the besieged city of Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of people are trapped without food and water, under relentless bombardment and unable to evacuate their wounded.
According to maps published by Russia's RIA news agency, the corridor from Kyiv would lead to Belarus, while civilians from Kharkiv would be permitted to go only to Russia. Moscow said it would also mount an airlift to take Ukrainians from Kyiv to Russia.
"Attempts by the Ukrainian side to deceive Russia and the whole civilized world ... are useless this time," a Russian official said.
A spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the move "completely immoral" and said Russia was trying to "use people's suffering to create a television picture".
"They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine," he said. "This is one of the problems that is causing the humanitarian corridors to break down. They seem to agree to them, but they themselves want to supply humanitarian aid for a picture on TV, and want the corridors to lead in their direction."
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk told reporters, "This is an unacceptable option for opening humanitarian corridors."
Belarus is a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and served as a launching ground for the invasion.
The Ukrainian government is proposing eight humanitarian corridors, including from the southern port of Mariupol, that would allow civilians to travel to the western regions of Ukraine, where there is no Russian shelling.
"We demand that the Russian Federation stop manipulating and abusing the trust of the leaders of France, China, Turkey and India," Vereshchuk said
Also on Monday, China said it was willing to work with the international community whenever necessary to mediate over the Ukraine crisis.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Russia Beijing's "most important strategic partner" and said ties with Moscow constituted "one of the most crucial bilateral relationships in the world."
China has made an "independent" judgment of the situation and made its position clear in an "objective and fair" manner, Wang said, while announcing that the Asian nation will provide emergency humanitarian aid to Ukraine through China's Red Cross.
Wang urged other countries including the United States and its allies not to "add fuel to the fire" on the issue, saying that the problem is complex and should be resolved through dialogue.
China has broken with the US, Europe and others that have imposed sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Beijing has said sanctions create new issues and threaten a political settlement of the conflict.
"No matter how perilous the international landscape, we will maintain our strategic focus and promote the development of a comprehensive China-Russia partnership in the new era," Wang told reporters at a news conference on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China's ceremonial parliament.
"The friendship between the two peoples is ironclad," he added.
During an hour-long phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday, Wang said China opposes any moves that "add fuel to the flames" in Ukraine.
Chinese state-controlled media outlets were told to post only pro-Russian content and to censor anti-Russian or pro-Western views, according to a copy of instructions that appeared on the social media account of the newspaper Beijing News. The post was later deleted.
On Monday afternoon, reports emerged that the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine will meet this week in Antalya, Turkey.
Turkey can act as a mediator between the parties as it is perceived as an ally by Kyiv, but also maintains close ties with Moscow.
Putin spoke with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, and Erdogan asked Putin to hold a ceasefire in Ukraine.
While most of the world is shunning Putin over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, one of the few leaders keeping an open line of communication is French President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron's diplomatic efforts to prevent the war failed, but he's not giving up: the two men have spoken four times since Russian forces attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24, and 11 times over the past month.
The French leader, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, is now one of the few outsiders with a view into Putin's mindset at the time of the largest military invasion in Europe since World War II.
Macron's relentless push for dialogue reflects France's post-World War II tradition of carving out its own geopolitical path and its refusal to blindly follow the United States.
"He is keeping a diplomatic channel open for the West in case Putin might want to de-escalate and look for a way out of this crisis," said Benjamin Haddad, a senior director for Europe at the Atlantic Council in Paris and a member of Macron's party.
Macron has also spoken to Putin on behalf of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Haddad said, trying to extract some mercy from Putin: local cease-fires, safe passage for trapped civilians and access to humanitarian aid.
During their most recent call on Sunday that came at Macron's request, the French leader and Putin focused for nearly two hours on the safety of Ukraine's nuclear plants.
Putin said he doesn't intend to attack them and agreed on the principle of "dialogue" between the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ukraine and Russia on the issue, according to a French official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the French presidency's practices.
There is "absolutely no illusion at the Elysee that Putin will keep his word on anything he promises," Haddad said, or that Putin will change his mind about the invasion. But Haddad said that it's important that Macron keeps trying to engage Putin even as the West punishes Russia and strengthens Ukraine's defenses.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's government plans to rush through legislation that will allow it to impose economic sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
New Zealand's existing laws don't allow it to impose meaningful sanctions except as part of a broader United Nations effort. That has left New Zealand hamstrung since Russia has UN Security Council veto power.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday the new legislation would allow New Zealand to target people, companies and assets associated with the invasion, including Russian oligarchs. New Zealand also could freeze assets and stop superyachts or planes from arriving.
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said the bill "will send a very clear signal that New Zealand will not be a safe haven for those wishing to move their investments here."
The Russia Sanctions Bill is scheduled to be heard by lawmakers on Wednesday and could pass as quickly as the same day. Ardern said she's hoping it will be supported by lawmakers across all parties although a unanimous vote wasn't guaranteed.
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