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Israel Asserts No Change Policy on Ukrainian War Following US Warnings

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (File photo: Reuters)
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Israel Asserts No Change Policy on Ukrainian War Following US Warnings

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (File photo: Reuters)

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen discussed bilateral relations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and regional and international issues, including the war in Ukraine.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Lavrov called Cohen to congratulate him on his new role.

Cohen referred extensively to the Jewish community in Russia and former Soviet immigrants in Israel and their importance to relations between the countries.

For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Lavrov congratulated his Israeli counterpart on his post and expressed his readiness to work to strengthen cooperation between Russia and Israel.

It stated that the Palestinian-Israeli settlement was discussed during the phone call, adding that Lavrov reiterated Russia's willingness to be involved in the peace process with Palestine based on international law.

In a briefing to Israeli media, a senior Israeli official confirmed that Cohen and Lavrov discussed the Russian war in Ukraine.

Cohen conveyed to his Russian counterpart a message from US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, stressing that there was "no change in Israeli policy" in this regard.

The Israeli minister stressed that Israel's aid to Ukraine would continue, noting that while additional details of Israel's policy on the matter were still being crafted, "one thing for certain is that we will talk less about it in public."

He added that the ministry would prepare a detailed memorandum that would constitute a basis for researching the cabinet for political and security affairs to formulate a responsible policy.

After these statements, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one Israel's strongest supporters in US Congress, slammed Cohen.

Graham tweeted that the new Israeli foreign minister prioritized the US-Israel strategic relationship and supported continued humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

"However, the idea that Israel should speak less about Russia's criminal invasion of Ukraine is a bit unnerving. I hope Mr. Cohen understands that when he speaks to Russia's Lavrov, he's speaking to a representative of a war criminal regime that commits war crimes on an industrial scale daily."

A senior Israeli political official said that Cohen briefed Blinken about the conversation that would take place with Lavrov.

Blinken requested that Cohen convey US messages to Lavrov.

According to the Ynet website, Graham's statements constitute a blow to Cohen and that there was a consensus between Republicans and Democrats on the Russian issue.

If Israeli policy changes to a more supportive approach to Russia, it could damage Jerusalem's standing in Washington.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett refrained from condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, the head of the interim government, Yair Lapid, approached the US position more and did not contact any Russian official. Netanyahu likely intends to return to a position closer to Russia.

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World

Ukrainian Strike Kills One, Wounds 3 in Southern Russia

In this handout photograph taken and released by the press service of the 65th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces on June 11, 2026, Ukrainian servicemen attend a military training at an undisclosed location in Zaporizhzhia region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Andriy Andriyenko / 65th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the press service of the 65th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces on June 11, 2026, Ukrainian servicemen attend a military training at an undisclosed location in Zaporizhzhia region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Andriy Andriyenko / 65th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces / AFP)
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Ukrainian Strike Kills One, Wounds 3 in Southern Russia

In this handout photograph taken and released by the press service of the 65th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces on June 11, 2026, Ukrainian servicemen attend a military training at an undisclosed location in Zaporizhzhia region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Andriy Andriyenko / 65th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the press service of the 65th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces on June 11, 2026, Ukrainian servicemen attend a military training at an undisclosed location in Zaporizhzhia region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Andriy Andriyenko / 65th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces / AFP)

A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person and wounded at least three others in southern Russia, a regional official said Saturday, with nearly 100 people fighting to extinguish a fire caused by the strike.

The attack damaged port installations in the Temryuk district on the Sea of Azov, near the Kerch Strait separating mainland Russia from the Crimean peninsula, which has been occupied by Moscow since 2014.

"As a result of falling drone debris, a fire broke out at a maritime terminal... one person was killed," Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev posted on Telegram.

He added that at least three people were wounded, according to first reports, and that 96 people had been drafted to fight the blaze.

The Russian army said it had shot down a total of 177 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Ukraine has stepped up its campaign of attacks within Russia in recent months, claiming fair retaliation for Moscow's own massive bombardments across the more than four-year-long conflict.

Kyiv insists that the Ukrainian army first and foremost targets military installations and energy infrastructure, in a bid to deprive the Kremlin's war chest of vital fossil fuel revenues.

World

US Military Helping Move 7 Million Barrels of Oil Per Day Out of the Gulf

Residents swim and play in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz while cargo ships and commercial vessels lie anchored in the distance off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Wednesday, June 10, 2026.(Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)
Residents swim and play in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz while cargo ships and commercial vessels lie anchored in the distance off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Wednesday, June 10, 2026.(Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)
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US Military Helping Move 7 Million Barrels of Oil Per Day Out of the Gulf

Residents swim and play in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz while cargo ships and commercial vessels lie anchored in the distance off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Wednesday, June 10, 2026.(Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)
Residents swim and play in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz while cargo ships and commercial vessels lie anchored in the distance off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Wednesday, June 10, 2026.(Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)

Roughly 7 million barrels a day of oil are getting out of the Gulf with US military help, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Friday at an event in Houston.

That is about half of the flow of oil that has been stuck in the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Israeli war ‌with Iran ‌began, Wright said.

"We have a military ‌effort ⁠that we've not ⁠talked a lot about, which started more recently to get cargoes out," Wright said.

No Iranian crude is getting out of the Strait, Wright said at a Bloomberg Energy event, adding that he expects to see the free ⁠flow of all products through the ‌Gulf if ‌a deal is reached. And if no deal is ‌reached, he said the US military will work ‌to restore the flow.

The flow of 7 million bpd is a bigger number than the oil industry was expecting, said Dan Pickering, chief ‌investment officer at Pickering Energy Partners.

Oil prices, currently in the $88 range, indicate ⁠that investors had ⁠assumed only about 3 million to 4 million barrels of oil were flowing through the Strait, Rebecca Babin, CIBC Private Wealth senior energy trader, said at the event.

Wright said that some sanctions on Iran could be partially lifted if a deal is made.

A US gasoline tax holiday over the summer was a possibility that could help reduce prices, Wright said.

 

World

US Says Downed Multiple Iran Drones as Both Insist Deal Closer

Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)
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US Says Downed Multiple Iran Drones as Both Insist Deal Closer

Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)

The United States said it downed multiple Iranian drones targeting commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz early Saturday, hours after both sides said a deal to end the Middle East war was closer than ever.

The interception came after weeks of halting talks between Tehran and Washington, mediated by Pakistan, that have been marked by threats and exchanges of fire despite a fragile truce agreed in April.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees operations in the region, posted on X that Iran had "launched multiple one-way attack drones in an attempt to strike commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz".

"US forces have downed all of them in recent hours as traffic flow through the strait continues unimpeded," it said.

CENTCOM added that the Strait of Hormuz -- a key maritime trade route for oil and gas from the Gulf -- "remains open for transit", despite an Iranian enforced blockade since the start of the war.

Disagreements between the two sides have persisted, with Iranian state media publishing a breakdown of what was purportedly on the table that was at odds with Washington's account.

"The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has never been closer," Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, wrote in a social media post, referring to the Pakistani capital that hosted previous US-Iran talks.

Trump -- who on Friday morning accused the Iranians of negotiating in bad faith and misrepresenting the terms that had been agreed -- posted a screenshot of Araghchi's message on his own feed just hours later.

Araghchi provided some details on the agreement in an interview with state television, saying it calls for the lifting of the US naval blockade of Iran's ports and unspecified changes to the administration of the Strait of Hormuz.

He also said the only way to deal with the country's enriched uranium -- which Washington alleges is part of a nuclear weapons program -- "is to dilute it inside Iran".

- 'Not 100 percent' -

Disputing Trump's "bad faith" accusation, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said an agreement had now been reached with Washington "on most points".

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has been a key mediator since the initial talks, confirmed that "a final, agreed-upon text of the peace deal has been reached".

"Peace has never been as close as it is now," Sharif said, while acknowledging "incessant misinformation" surrounding the deal.

A senior US official also voiced optimism that the parties would be "signing this agreement over the next few days".

"If I were to give you a confidence that we were going to be signing this agreement, I maybe would have said 75 percent this morning, it's probably more like 80-85 percent now, but it's not 100 percent," the official told reporters in a call.

The Swiss foreign ministry on Friday said it had been in contact with both the United States and Iran, and had "proposed Switzerland as the venue for a possible signing, should the parties agree to it".

But Araghchi said that upon finalization, a draft deal with the United States would be signed "remotely", adding that this could happen "in the coming days".

US ally Israel has said that Trump had promised it that any agreement would see Iran stripped of its enriched nuclear material, but Tehran's official IRNA news agency said this was not even on the table.

- 'Benefits will flow' -

According to IRNA's account, after an initial agreement is signed, Iran and the United States would hold 60 more days of talks and "Iran's right to enrich uranium and the retention of enriched material... will be emphasized with a view to their inclusion in the final agreement".

Beyond this, according to IRNA, Iran would insist on managing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has blockaded since the outbreak of the war, causing major disruptions to the global economy.

On Friday, Iran's Mehr news agency, quoting a source close to the country's negotiating team, said the deal would also see the release of $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.

But those details clashed with a summary offered by a senior White House official, who told AFP Iran had agreed to dismantle its nuclear program, destroy its enriched uranium stockpile and reopen the strait -- and that Tehran would not see any of its frozen funds returned until it had honored these commitments.

US Vice President JD Vance likewise said Iran was "not receiving any cash, and no funds are being released for simply signing a deal or attending a meeting".

But, he added, if "Iran meets its obligations, then economic benefits will flow to them and to the entire region".