Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday criticized Israeli airline El Al for accepting payments on its website from Russia’s Mir electronic funds transfer system, which he described as “money soaked in Ukrainian blood”.
“As the world sanctions Russia for its barbaric atrocities in Ukraine, some prefer to make money soaked in Ukrainian blood,” Kuleba tweeted.
“Here is @EL_AL_ISRAEL accepting payments in Russia’s ‘Mir’ banking system designed to evade sanctions.”
Mr Kuleba added that this move is “immoral and a blow to Ukrainian-Israeli relations.”
El Al quickly responded to the accusation, saying in a statement that “it is regrettable that a simple check was not made with us prior to the misleading tweet, as the facts are entirely different.”
The airline said it stopped accepting Mir payments on February 28 – four days after Russia began its widespread invasion of Ukraine. Indeed, on Monday, attempts to book flights on El Al’s website in the United States, Israel and Russia did not bring up a Mir payment option.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday that his efforts to mediate the war between Russia and Ukraine were “a moral duty” even though there was little chance of success.
Mr. Bennett made these remarks to his government, the day after his meeting in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin, a trip to Berlin and telephone conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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