Putin’s surprising reason for not providing war aid to Iran: ‘Israel is almost a Russian-speaking country’

The Russian president was asked at a press conference why Moscow was not helping Tehran more and replied that ‘almost two million Russian-speaking people live in Israel’; The Ukrainian president claimed that 20 of the bodies transferred by the Russians were actually those of their soldiers – including an unnamed Israeli citizen

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that one of the reason why Russia is no longer providing assistance to the Iranians in the war is that “Israel is almost a Russian‑speaking country.”

Putin said on Friday during a news conference that the Kremlin “traditionally enjoys good and friendly relations with the Arab world. It has been said here that we must show a certain solidarity—and that is true. But in any case, every conflict is rather unique. I want to draw your attention to the fact that almost two million Russian speaking people live in Israel; it is almost a Russian‑speaking country today.”

“Who said that we were supposed to do more: what else? Start combat operations?” Putin asked. “We defend Iran’s right to nuclear energy in the name of peace. We built a nuclear reactor in Iran and signed contracts for two more. We continue that work; we have not evacuated our people from there. Isn’t that support for Iran?”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims that among the bodies returned by Moscow in the recent repatriation between the two countries were 20 Russians—among them, “a Russian‑mercenary Israeli.”

Ukrainian media quoted Zelensky as saying that the Russians “sent an Israeli citizen, with Israeli documents, who fought on their side. They told us they were Ukrainians. That means they don’t even check who they are sending.”

The repatriation of bodies is part of a prisoner‑and‑body exchange agreement reached in talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul. The Ukrainians claimed that the Russians had deceived them by sending them the bodies of Russian soldiers under the guise of Ukrainians. The identity of the Israeli has not been released.

In the talks, it was agreed to release at least 1,200 prisoners from each side and transfer thousands of bodies. This was the only concrete achievement of the second round of talks between Kyiv and Moscow earlier this month, held amid strong pressure exerted by U.S. President Donald Trump in hopes of ending the war.

Russia has placed extremely strict demands for a cease‑fire, including Ukrainian withdrawal from frontline territories; Kyiv and its Western allies contend that Putin currently is not interested in a cease‑fire because his forces enjoy momentum on the battlefield.

As reported by Ynetnews