- February 26, 2025
- 4:30 pm
- Video
“Israel confirmed that it will vote in favor of this resolution – a basic one that concerns Ukraine’s right to defend itself and maintain its territorial integrity; there is nothing extraneous in it.”
“We discuss every resolution, every detail, and I was simply not informed about the changes. As a result, I looked like a whipping boy…”
“People who know what they’re talking about understand that we coordinate every vote with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
“When the Israeli MFA has issues with resolutions that are problematic for Israel, we either abstain or do not vote. And I can provide dozens of such examples. In my four years as ambassador, I cannot recall a single critical resolution for Israel that we did not support or abstain from when it was required for Israel.”
The Ambassador of Ukraine to Israel, Yevhen Korniychuk gave an interview to “The Best Radio of Israel” on February 26, 2025, in which he explained that Kyiv is disappointed that Israel voted against the Ukrainian resolution brought to the UN General Assembly session condemning Russian aggression, and that this was preceded by …………
By the way, we recommend – Independent Israeli Russian-language radio station “The Best Radio, Israel” (News of Israel, interviews with experts and newsmakers, analysis, an overview of Israeli and global media)
Transcription of the video interview by NAnews: video follows the text version…
Interviewer – Tzvi Zilbert – one of the most renowned, experienced, and authoritative radio journalists of Russian-speaking Israel:
“We are going to talk about the third anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Yesterday we saw not only European leaders in Kyiv, who came to express a unified position in support of Ukraine, but also noticed that, against this backdrop, various unpleasant rumors have emerged regarding the new administration of the United States of America. I read your interview a couple of days ago with David Baron, in which, it seemed to me, you mentioned that there are some new indications that Israel and Ukraine are moving toward a closer relationship, especially since the ‘Russian factor’ is no longer present in Syria. On the other hand, today it is being actively discussed that Israel, together with the United States, voted against a resolution in support of Ukraine at the UN. How do you comment on this situation?”
Ambassador (Yevhen Korniychuk):
“Look, in my interview with David Baron I noted that there are indeed signs that Israel might change its position regarding the non-supply or non-sale of arms to Ukraine. This is due to the fact that Russia has ceased to be Israel’s ‘northern neighbor’ in Syria. However, a final decision on this matter has not yet been made. We truly hope that the necessary decision will be reached, and on this issue we are engaged in various consultations with our Israeli partners.
“As for the UN vote, I am currently in Washington at the AIPAC conference – Israel’s main lobbyist event – and I am the only one invited from Ukraine. Yesterday I participated on a panel and spoke with Americans who support Israel about our common problems and common enemies – about the issue of Iran, which Russia supports, and about the new defense agreements between Iran and Russia. All of this is causing concern among the Americans.”
“Regarding the vote on our resolution – of course, we are disappointed. Personally, I really love the Odessa Privoz and often visit there, but I do not wish to delve into a discussion about how many times Ukraine has voted against Israel on various resolutions. Accusations immediately start flying, and I believe that these are purely Russian narratives.”
“People who understand what they’re talking about know that we coordinate every vote with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When the Israeli MFA encounters issues with resolutions that are problematic for Israel, we either abstain or do not vote. And I can provide dozens of such examples. In my four years as ambassador, I cannot recall a single critical resolution for Israel that we did not support or abstain from when it was necessary for Israel. That is precisely why, in this case, I can provide a full chronology: I had several conversations and meetings with representatives of the Israeli MFA, and among my European colleagues there were demarches and meetings with the Israeli MFA.”
“Israel confirmed that it will vote in favor of this resolution – a basic one that concerns Ukraine’s right to defend itself and maintain its territorial integrity; there is nothing extraneous in it.”
“We learned about the position of the United States literally three days before the vote – the Americans requested that this resolution be withdrawn altogether. Of course, we did not agree, as this position is linked to the efforts of the current American administration in negotiations with the Russian Federation. I do not think that such a stance will help the American leadership achieve its goal – whether it be establishing a just peace or at least a ceasefire. But that is their position. However, Israel is the only country among democracies that voted against it because it found itself in the same company as the Russian Federation, Belarus, North Korea, and, in fact, the United States.”
Interviewer:
“Today the situation is being discussed in such a way that Israel is expected to vote at least as the United States for the next four years – there can be no disagreement on that. But how does it look now?”
Ambassador (Yevhen Korniychuk):
“I knew nothing about this, and unfortunately, in this case, we violated the principle of transparency with the Israeli MFA. We discuss every resolution, every detail, and I was simply not informed about the changes. As a result, I looked like a whipping boy, and we struggled greatly to ‘pull off’ this vote – in plain language, about 100 (93) countries supported us.”
“Therefore, to say that ‘we take the position of the United States and nothing else interests us’ is not entirely accurate, because in this case Israel is not acting as a negotiator or intermediary. I believe that at least a warning or abstention on this resolution would have been appropriate. In this resolution, Iran abstained – it would have been amusing if Iran had voted in favor of it, which was not out of the question – then Israel would have found itself in an even more amusing company. This decision was made by the Israeli leadership.”
“And we took it into account. I believe that we will take appropriate measures, and this will not go unnoticed – I am in no way threatening anyone. On the contrary, I believe that such actions simply undo years of work aimed at significantly improving relations between governments.”
“I believe that relationships between people are beautiful. You saw massive demonstrations in support of Ukraine on the third anniversary of the war, you saw a flash mob by a wall with a huge Ukrainian flag where our comrades and colleagues gathered. But undoubtedly, yesterday (February 24, 20525 – editorial note) in Kyiv there were many representatives of foreign states supporting Ukraine, and the Israeli side, unfortunately, refrained from any comments regarding the third anniversary of the war. I believe that this is also wrong. We are countries in roughly similar situations, both fighting for our independence and the right to exist on this land, and of course we have different enemies. That is precisely why our relations deserved at least a warning to our colleagues that such a decision had been made in advance, as it came as a complete surprise to us.”
I am very sorry, I try to be diplomatic. The situation happened exactly as it did.
Interviewer:
“It just seems to me that there was no detailed discussion at the MFA level, as there should have been; instead, someone from the US State Department called and said, ‘You must vote against this resolution.’ As far as I understand, that is how the mechanism works in Israel. Of course, it is a pity that it turned out this way, but the actions of the Israeli MFA do not at all correlate with public sentiment. Support for Ukraine in Israel today is even higher than in Europe – in Germany or the Baltic states, we do not have as many ‘vatniks’. Public support for Ukraine here is very high.”
Ambassador (Yevhen Korniychuk):
“I do not doubt it for a minute. Moreover, I am pleased with that and we are working on it. Yesterday I received a multitude of calls and text messages from Israeli friends, including Knesset members and some ministers, who expressed both support for Ukraine and dissatisfaction with this decision by the Israeli MFA. Once again, I repeat: in response to your words that, in all European countries—as partners of the United States—the State Department representatives called with a request not to support the vote, at the very least, an abstention could have been made, and it would have been less painful. But I do not judge people – for us, the support of Israelis is more important, although we would like better coordination with the government.”
“And I am sorry that I have to speak about this publicly.”
