Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen is expected to meet today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a one-day visit to the country under siege. Cohen arrived in Kyiv on Thursday morning, becoming the first high-level Israeli official to visit Ukraine since Russia launched its war on its neighbor nearly a year ago. During the day, he met with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and members of the Jewish community.
Cohen started his visit with a visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha and to Babyn Yar, where Nazis and their Ukrainian collaborators murdered over 30,000 Jews by shooting them into a ravine in September 1941. He arrived in Ukraine via Poland from a one-day visit to Turkey.
Israel has provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the outbreak of the conflict, and reportedly also has provided some intelligence information. Cohen’s visit comes as Ukraine continues to press Israel for defensive weapons, including Iron Dome missile defense systems.