Putin in rare apology over Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov’s claim Hitler had ‘Jewish blood’
Russia’s president has issued a rare apology after backtracking on his foreign minister’s claim that Adolf Hitler had “Jewish blood”.
In a phone call to Israel’s prime minister Naftali Bennett, the Kremlin’s leader said sorry after fury was sparked earlier in the week.
Bennett had condemned the “lies” by Russia’s Sergey Lavrov, while foreign minister Yair Lapid branded them an “unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error”.
A day after the criticism Russia’s foreign ministry hit back, saying Israel “supports the neo-Nazi regime” in Ukraine, and a spokesperson said it sent “mercenaries” who are “shoulder to shoulder” with extremists.
In a bid to defuse the row, Putin spoke to Bennet and the Israeli PM said he “accepted President Putin’s apology.. and thanked him for clarifying the president’s attitude”.
Putin’s statement after the phone call did not acknowledge an apology had been made.
Israel has around 20 per cent of its population as Russian-speaking, making the war in Ukraine a thorny political issue.