Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen arrived in Ukraine early Thursday morning for the first such visit since the start of the war.
Cohen is the most senior Israeli official to visit the country since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. He arrived after taking an overnight train from Poland, where he landed in the middle of the night after a one-day visit to Turkey.
Cohen is scheduled to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
The minister will also announce the fulltime reopening of the Israeli Embassy in Kyiv.
In addition, the minister will visit Babi Yar – where he is expected to lay a wreath in memory of the victims of the massacre — and the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where Russian forces slaughtered more than 450 civilians last year.
“In the last year, Israel has stood by the Ukrainian people and by the side of Ukraine,” Cohen said in a statement upon his arrival.
“Today we will raise the Israeli flag at the Israeli Embassy in Kyiv, which will return to continuous activity with the aim of strengthening relations between the countries.”
