Published on: 02/05/2022 – 17:07 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov provoked outrage among his Israeli and Ukrainian counterparts after declaring on Sunday, referring to Volodymyr Zelensky, that Hitler “had blood Jewish”. The Russian ambassador to Israel has been summoned. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday (May 2) summoned the Russian ambassador for “clarifications” after comments made by his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. Ukrainian President Volodymyr “Zelensky makes this argument: how can nazism be present [en Ukraine] if he himself is Jewish. I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood,” Sergei Lavrov said Sunday evening in an interview with Italian television. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Israel has tried to maintain a delicate balance between kyiv and Moscow, but this remark by Sergei Lavrov aroused indignation. “Minister Lavrov’s remarks are at the same time scandalous, unforgivable and a horrible historical error”, condemned Yaïr Lapid in a brief press release. Russia has repeatedly said it wants to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine, a former Soviet republic now headed by pro-Western leaders. , for his part, denounced the use of the Holocaust as a “political tool”. indicated, according to a statement from his office.>> Read also: War in Ukraine: behind its neutrality, Israel’s balancing act against RussiaThe president of Yad Vachem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial, Dani Dayan, also condemned the Sergei Lavrov’s remark, considering that it was “baseless, delusional and dangerous remarks”. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba lamented that “Sergei Lavrov cannot hide the deep-rooted anti-Semitism within Russian elites”. “These odious comments are offensive to President Zelensky, Ukraine, Israel and the Jewish people,” he wrote on Twitter. “Lavrov’s openly anti-Semitic comments (…) are further proof that Russia is the successor of Nazi ideology”, insisted Mykhaïlo Podoliak, adviser to the Ukrainian presidency. For the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriï Yermak, “anti-Semitism in Russia is becoming more and more visible” and “is indicative of the conspiracy theories on which dictatorial regimes are always built”. A statement deemed “absurd” by Germany According to German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, this statement is “absurd” and “Russian propaganda broadcast by Sergueï Lavrov does not need to be commented on”. ‘Hebrew fo him Israel has notably provided protective equipment to Ukraine but has not recently sent weapons, Israeli officials said. With AFP