As the diplomatic war of words between Jerusalem and Kyiv over stolen Ukrainian grain escalated this week, a senior Israeli diplomat met with Russia’s ambassador while declining to make time to meet with the European Union envoy, two foreign diplomatic officials told The Times of Israel on Wednesday.
EU envoy Michael Mann has been trying for over a week to meet with Simona Halperin, the Foreign Ministry deputy director general in charge of ties with Europe, said the officials.
Halperin met with Russian Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov on Tuesday, according to the Russian embassy.
“An exchange of views took place on current topics of international cooperation, with particular attention paid to European issues,” said the Russian readout. “A mutual commitment to maintaining a constructive Russian-Israeli dialogue was reaffirmed. It was agreed to continue maintaining contacts.”
However, Halperin pushed off a potential meeting with Mann to next week at the earliest, according to the two foreign officials, who said the European diplomat is seeking to discuss allegations that grain poached by Russia from Ukraine is being sold in Israel.
The EU mission to Israel declined to comment, as did Mann. The Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
On April 28, in Jerusalem Ambassador of Russia Anatoly Viktorov held a working meeting with Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel Simona Halperin.
An exchange of views took place on current topics of international cooperation, with particular… pic.twitter.com/Z335fQyLDP
— Russia in Israel (@israel_mid_ru) April 28, 2026
Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian official told The Times of Israel that Jerusalem’s handling of the stolen grain would affect how willing Kyiv is to offer expertise on countering Hezbollah drones.
Israel has asked for assistance, said the official, as Hezbollah steps up its use of attack drones against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
On Sunday, Sgt. Idan Fooks, 19, was killed and six other soldiers were wounded in a Hezbollah explosive drone strike in southern Lebanon. On Tuesday, a soldier was seriously wounded and another lightly hurt by a Hezbollah UAV, after which a Defense Ministry contractor Amer Hujirat was killed and his 19-year-old son was lightly injured.
We will consider this request in contingency with their behavior with the stolen grain.
“We will consider this request in contingency with their behavior with the stolen grain,” said the Ukrainian official.
While providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Jerusalem has pursued a relatively restrained response to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine due to Russia’s military presence in Syria, Israel’s northern bellicose neighbor, and has sought to balance security interests at home and policy abroad while maintaining relations with both Moscow and Kyiv.
Following the fall of the Russia-allied Bashar Assad regime in Syria over a year ago, a moderate warming of ties between Kyiv and Jerusalem had taken place.
However, last month Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to maintain a neutral stance between Moscow and Kyiv, even though Russia has been providing critical intelligence to Iran in the US-Israel war against Iran.
The two leaders have not spoken in over a year.
No evidence, claims Israel
Israel repeated on Wednesday its stance that it has yet to receive evidence a shipment of Russian grain was “stolen” from occupied Ukrainian territory, while Kyiv continued to threaten sanctions.
Kyiv considers all grain produced in the four regions that Russia claims as its own since invading Ukraine in 2022 — as well as Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014 — to be stolen and has protested over its export to other countries.
Russia calls the regions its “new territories,” but they are still internationally recognized as Ukrainian. Moscow has not commented on the legal status of grain collected in them.
“We will go after Russia’s shadow grain fleet and its enablers across all geographies,” wrote Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on X.
Ukraine, said Sybiha, will initiate “new sanctions in the EU, G7, and other jurisdictions on everyone involved in this theft and illegal trade.”
“We warn all entities and nations that we will react strongly to any theft of our grain,” he said.
Sybiha said on Monday that Israel’s Ambassador Michael Brodsky had been summoned to his ministry over what he described as Israeli inaction in allowing shipments of grain to enter the country from Russian-occupied Ukraine.
“The Europeans are ready to support us” on sanctions, said the senior Ukrainian official. “I’m sure that Israeli importers wouldn’t care about Ukrainian sanctions, but they would care about European sanctions, because Europe is the biggest trade partner of Israel. And we already have permission from all the Europeans for that.”
Earlier Wednesday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar confirmed that Israel received Ukraine’s request for legal assistance regarding a vessel waiting to dock in Haifa, while taking a swipe at Kyiv’s handling of the issue.
In a post on X, Sa’ar said the request was submitted “late last night” after earlier public statements by Ukrainian officials, adding, “One would expect the submission of a legal request before Tweeting. You chose differently, for your own reasons.”
“With all due respect, Your Excellency,” responded Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi, “we expect action, namely for the State of Israel to stop accepting grain stolen from Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories. When such action is taken, we will be most happy to receive relevant messages via X (former Twitter), WhatsApp, Signal, email, paper post, or any other channel of Your Excellency’s convenience.”
To that post, Israel’s own Foreign Ministry spokesman responded on X that Ukraine hasn’t provided evidence to back its claims.
“‘If the law is against you, pound the facts,” wrote Oren Marmorstein on X, citing an adage among trial lawyers. “‘If the facts are against you, pound the law. If both are against you, pound the table and yell.’”
“With all due respect, if action is being requested, we expect evidence,” Marmostein continued. “Not tweets. So far evidence hasn’t been provided.”
“If the law is against you, pound the facts. If the facts are against you, pound the law. If both are against you, pound the table and yell.”
With all due respect, if action is being requested, we expect evidence. Not tweets. So far evidence hasn’t been provided. https://t.co/wdlGWYs4ZW
— Oren Marmorstein (@OrenMarmorstein) April 29, 2026
However, according to the Ukrainian official, the deputy chief of mission at the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel provided the Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry with evidence on Wednesday morning.
“Of course they are lying,” says the senior Ukrainian official.
Not legitimate business
Wednesday’s back-and-forth continued a fight that raged on Tuesday.
Zelensky, in a post to X, wrote: “In any normal country, purchasing stolen goods is an act that entails legal liability. This applies, in particular, to grain stolen by Russia. Another vessel carrying such grain has arrived at a port in Israel and is preparing to unload.”
“This is not – and cannot be – legitimate business. The Israeli authorities cannot be unaware of which ships are arriving at the country’s ports and what cargo they are carrying,” he said.
Sa’ar pushed back against the allegation, reiterating an accusation that Kyiv was conducting “Twitter diplomacy” and failing to provide evidence for the Russian cargo’s purportedly illicit origin.
“Up until this point, the Ukrainian government has not submitted a request for legal assistance. They submitted tweets,” he said at a press conference, alongside visiting Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Duric. “Nor has the Ukrainian government provided evidence for its claims.”
Sa’ar said he spoke with the Israel Tax Authority on the matter, but stressed that, at this stage, “the vessel has not entered the port and has yet to submit its documents,” and that it is impossible to verify claims that shipping records were forged.
Israel, he added, “is a state that abides by the rule of law,” and any legal action must be based on substantiated evidence submitted through proper channels.
“We say again to our Ukrainian friends: If you have any evidence of theft, submit it through the appropriate channels,” Sa’ar said, adding that Israel “will not be influenced” by public pressure.
Sa’ar also expressed surprise at the criticism, noting Israel’s past support for Ukraine in international forums and through humanitarian assistance during its ongoing war with Russia.
According to a report by the Haaretz daily, the vessel Panormitis – allegedly carrying grain from occupied areas – was awaiting permission to dock in Haifa, with four similar shipments already unloaded in Israel this year.
Traders have told Reuters that it is impossible to track the origin of wheat once it is mixed.
In his post to X on Tuesday, Zelensky wrote that “Ukraine has taken all necessary steps through diplomatic channels to prevent such incidents. However, we see that yet another such vessel has not been stopped. I have instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to inform all partners of our state about the situation.”
“Based on information from our intelligence services, Ukraine is preparing a relevant sanctions package that will cover both those directly transporting this grain and the individuals and legal entities attempting to profit from this criminal scheme,” he warned, adding Kyiv would “also coordinate with European partners to ensure that the relevant individuals are included in European sanctions regimes.”
Tykhyi, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters that Kyiv provided “extensive information and proof” that the cargo was illegal before going public. The ministry published a timeline of its actions and contacts with Israeli authorities.
“We will not allow any country in any geography to facilitate illegal trade with a stolen grain that finances our enemy,” Tykhyi said.
Earlier this month, Israel reportedly allowed a Russian vessel carrying stolen Ukrainian grain to dock at a Haifa port, claiming it was too late to turn the ship around.
Sa’ar, at the time, sent a message to his Ukrainian counterpart claiming that the vessel could not be detained due to the late notice, even though Israel had reportedly been aware of it two weeks before it arrived.
Senior Ukrainian officials had been demanding the confiscation of the wheat cargo.
Stav Levaton contributed to this report.
Source:
www.timesofisrael.com
