MUKACHEVO, Ukraine - The United States and its allies have intelligence that Russia may be preparing to use chemical weapons against Ukraine, the U.S. and European officials said Friday, as Moscow sought to invigorate its faltering military offensive through increasingly brutal assaults across multiple Ukrainian cities.
Security officials and diplomats said the intelligence, which they declined to detail, pointed to possible preparations by Russia for deploying chemical munitions and warned the Kremlin may seek to carry out a "false-flag" attack that attempts to pin the blame on Ukrainians, or perhaps Western governments. The officials, like others quoted in this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter.
They don't fully control the skies, despite possessing one of the world's most advanced air forces. Their ground assault on the capital has been inching along for days, with a miles-long convoy marooned by supply problems. And all the while, they are taking heavy losses - both in personnel and equipment.
Two weeks after Russian forces streamed into neighboring Ukraine following months of buildup, evidence is mounting that the invasion has not gone to plan - and that Russia's much-vaunted military may not be the formidable force once feared.Russia Devises Plan to Seize Firms Abandoned in Foreigner Exodus
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Vladimir Putin made an offer to end the Russian war with Ukraine, but the offer includes many Ukrainian sacrifices.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy that he recommends Ukraine take the offer made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war - which includes many Ukrainian sacrifices - in a phone call on Tuesday, according to an official in Ukraine's government. According to the official, Zelenksy did not take Bennett's advice.
The source claimed that the phone call was initiated by Bennett. "If I were you, I would think about the lives of my people and take the offer," Bennett reportedly said.
Zelenksy's response was short. "I hear you," he said.
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According to the report, Zelenksy and his people did not like the advice.
"Bennett told us to surrender," said the official. "We have no intention of doing so. We know Putin's offer is only the beginning."
In the past two weeks, and especially since Bennett's visit to Moscow, the prime minister's office and the Foreign Ministry have been claiming that Israel's mediation efforts force them to keep an even more cautious and balanced approach. This message was also passed quietly to Zelenksy's office. The official also said that Israel asked Ukraine not to request more military and defense aid because such a request could harm the mediation efforts.
According to the official, however, Zelenksy's office isn't seeing results from the mediation. He said that Bennett isn't mediating so much as he is functioning as a mailbox and just passing messages between the two sides. According to him, a mediator needs to try to put together a compromise between the two sides and make his own offers.
"We don't need a mailbox," said the official. "We have enough of those. If Bennett wants to be neutral and mediate, we would expect to see him appoint someone to work on it day and night and try to get a compromise."
Ukrainian officials believe that Bennett's involvement in diplomatic efforts comes from his not wanting to take a clear stance regarding the Russian invasion from fear that it will harm Israel's ties with Russia.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian Ambassador Yvgeni Kornichuk is expected to meet with Knesset Chairman Mickey Levi. The official said that Kornichuk intends to make clear to Levi that the only option, as far as Zelenksy is concerned, is a video speech in the Knesset plenum and not a Zoom call which will only include a few MKs.
If the Knesset speech does not happen, Zelenksy is looking at other options. The first is a speech in Yad Vashem, and the second is a speech in the Bima square in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv's Mayor Ron Huldai has already told Zelenksy that he would be happy to arrange it.
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