Israel reprimands Ukraine ambassador over scathing response to FM Lapid's Russia assessment

Israel "reprimand[ed]" the Ukrainian ambassador on Thursday over his scathing response to Foreign Minister Yair Lapid's assessment on the risk of a Russian conflict.

Ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk wrote on Facebook that he was "deeply appalled" over the Yesh Atid party chief's comments on the likelihood of war, Anadolu Agency reported.

"At the moment, the [Israeli] assessment is that we don’t see a violent confrontation soon. I also don’t think a world war is about to start there," Israel's foreign minister told Axios news site on Wednesday.

It is "a shame" the FM "has not noticed the war in the center of Europe which has lasted for eight years already", according to the Ukrainian ambassador.

Kyiv's envoy added his wish "to remind… [him] that it is not a conflict – it is a war, that Russia aggressively and cynically conducts against Ukraine".

Korniychuk said the foreign minister had disregarded the serious concerns raised by the UK, US and EU, Israel's staunchest friends, concerning the likelihood of a "large-scale Russian military invasion of Ukraine in the coming weeks".

If Europe experiences "large-scale war" this "will leave Israel face to face with the Iranian threat", the Ukrainian ambassador argued.