TEL AVIV, October 19. /TASS/: Israel, together with its NATO allies, supports Ukraine, but still has no intention to supply Kiev with weapons, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Wednesday at a meeting with EU envoys, the Defense Ministry’s press service reported.
"Israel supports Ukraine, NATO and the West and stands with them - this is something we’ve stated in the past and repeat today. Israel continues to support Ukraine through humanitarian aid deliveries and supply of life-saving defense equipment. I plan to approve an additional [aid] package, as we’ve done before," the press service of the Israeli Defense Ministry quoted him as saying.
At the same time, Gantz pointed out that Israel still intended to limit itself to providing only non-military assistance to Kiev. "At that, I would like to stress that Israel will not supply weapons systems to Ukraine due to a number of operational reasons. We will continue to support Ukraine within our constraints, as we’ve done in the past," he noted.
The top brass added that Israel was ready to help Ukraine in the development of an advanced air attack warning system as part of this policy. "We have sent the Ukrainians a request for an exchange of information regarding their needs in the area of air alert systems. As soon as we get this information, we will be able to help them develop a life-saving early warning system for civilians," Gantz noted.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on Tuesday that his country would send an official message to the Israeli government asking it to immediately provide Kiev with air defense systems. So far, Israel has not provided Ukraine with any military aid and has limited itself to sending humanitarian supplies to the country and providing medical aid to Ukrainians wounded as result of hostilities.
