Jerusalem (CNN) — The President of Russia, Vladimir Putinapologized for comments his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made about Hitler and Jews earlier this week in a phone call with Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, according to a statement from Bennett’s office.
Thursday’s statement said: “The prime minister accepted President Putin’s apology for Lavrov’s comments and thanked him for clarifying the president’s attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust.”
A bitter war of words erupted between the two countries after Lavrov tried to justify Moscow’s stated goal of “denazifying” Ukraine, an unsubstantiated description of the country, which is run by a Jewish president, by claiming that Adolf Hitler had “Jewish blood” and that “the most passionate anti-Semites are often Jews”.
Subsequently, the Russian ambassador to Israel was summoned by the Israeli Foreign Ministry for talks. Bennett called the claims “lies” and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid described them as “inexcusable and outrageous.”
Putin’s office earlier issued its own reading of the phone call, which did not mention an apology or Lavrov’s comment. CNN asked Putin’s spokesman if the Russian president apologized to Bennett.
The readings from Moscow and Jerusalem largely aligned with the other issues the two leaders discussed in a phone call marking Israel’s Independence Day.
The Russian account of the call said the leaders emphasized the special significance of May 9 for the people of Russia and Israel, which is celebrated as victory day in Russia as a momentous day for the people of Russia and Israel.
The leaders honored the memory of all the fallen, including the victims of the Holocaust, he said, while expressing interest in the further development of Russian-Israeli friendly relations.
Bennet highlighted the “decisive contribution of the Red Army to the victory over Nazism”.
Putin and Bennet also discussed the situation in Ukraine, including the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant. According to the Kremlin, Putin said the Russian military was ready to ensure the safe exit of civilians from the plant.