Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would be willing to serve as mediator between Ukraine and Russia, News.az reports citing CNN.

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he was asked to mediate not long after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of last year but declined the offer as he was not prime minister at the time.

“I was opposition leader at the time and I said, well I have a rule; one prime minister at a time,” he said. 

When asked if he would agree to it now, Netanyahu said: “If asked by all relevant parties, I’ll certainly consider it but I’m not pushing myself.” 

“I’ve been around long enough to know that there has to be the ripe time and the ripe circumstances. If they arise, I will certainly consider it," he told CNN.

He added that he would want the United States in particular to ask him as “you can’t have too many cooks in the kitchen, and we have our own backyard to deal with.”

Netanyahu also stressed during the interview that he had a good relationship with US President Joe Biden, saying: “I think President Biden’s commitment to Israel is real, it’s not just words, it’s genuine, it comes from the heart. And my commitment to the alliance with the United States is real.” 

He said that Washington and Tel Aviv had disagreed on many things, including Iran, but the alliance between the two countries “had to be unshakeable.”

News.az