Putin apologises to Israel PM for Hitler remark

Tel Aviv: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday apologised to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for comments made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Ties between the two countries soured after Lavrov reportedly said that Adolf Hitler had Jewish heritage to explain Moscow’s operation in Ukraine.

“Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke today with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Prime Minister presented the President with a humanitarian request to examine various options for evacuation from Azovstal in Mariupol,” the Prime Minister of Israel said in a statement posted on Twitter.

“The two discussed Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s remarks. The Prime Minister accepted President Putin’s apology for Lavrov’s remarks and thanked him for clarifying his attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust,” the statement added.