Speculations that Ukraine plans to terminate the visa-free arrangement for Israeli nationals have been denied by Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel, Yevhen Korniichuk.
His comments came during an interview with Radio Liberty, VisaGuide.World reports.
The Ambassador stressed that the discussions revolved around suspending the visa-free arrangement, not terminating it.
“It’s not about canceling the visa-free regime. The issue under consideration was the suspension of it. No one was planning to cancel the intergovernmental agreement,” he stressed.
In addition, Korniichuk acknowledged significant concerns as well as challenges, stressing that this issue is under careful consideration at the highest levels of Ukraine’s political leadership.
“Recently, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the question arose again about the advisability of diverting a large number of our government officials during military operations to ensure the safety of pilgrims,” Korniichuk pointed out.
He stressed that nearly 30,000 Israeli pilgrims are considering visiting Uman this year, but as a result of the absence of air defence systems, Ukraine cannot safeguard them from potential attacks from Russia.
As a result of Russian attacks, a total of 21 people, including several children, lost their lives in Uman in April this year.
Recently, local media reports said that authorities in Ukraine are considering canceling the visa-free travel agreement with Israel following Israel’s unfriendly actions towards Ukraine as well as the pro-Russian position in the international area.
In addition, according to a JNS report, Ukraine also planned to request that the country be excluded from the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meetings following its alleged “unfriendly actions towards Ukraine as well as pro-Russian position on the international arena.”
The Ukraine Defense Group, known as the Ramstein group, is an alliance of a total of 54 countries, aiding Ukraine with military equipment in its fight against the invasion of Russia.
A source from Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council told JNS that authorities in Israel never offered any real help, and instead, the information received during the meetings is used by Israel’s own interests.
The same source also said that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is preparing a submission regarding the visa-free regime to the cabinet, which will be taken into consideration in the following weeks.
Besides, according to Kyiv Post, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Kornichuk, recently called on Israel to provide Ukraine with weapon systems that could counter ballistic missiles and also criticized Israel for terminating health insurance benefits for refugees from Ukraine and claiming that it deported about 10 percent of Ukrainian refugees.