In order not to irritate Russia, Israel told the Baltic countries that it would block the supply of Israeli weapons to Ukraine by third countries, according to Breaking Defense..

Following the announcement by the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania that it had received U.S. approval to transfer US-made weapons to Ukraine as part of efforts to support Kiev in the face of a potential Russian invasion, the Israeli Defense Ministry informed the three Baltic states that their possible request to transfer Israeli-made weapons to Kiev.

This decision was caused by Israel's desire to balance its relations with Russia..

Like the US, Israel initially approved strict “end-user” rules for weapons sold abroad that legally restricted the ability of the buying country to ship equipment to a third party without the permission of the original manufacturer..

The decision to ban Israel was caused by fears that Ukraine would seek to obtain Spike anti-tank systems, a joint German-Israeli production.

The Ministries of Defense of the Baltic States did not confirm this information..

The Israeli Defense Ministry also declined to comment on this information, but anonymous sources in the Israeli military noted the "

“Each kind of indirect intervention in the Ukrainian crisis can damage the special relationship between Tel Aviv and Moscow. Anything that has even the slightest relation to the situation in Ukraine should involve considering the possible consequences at a very high level, ”explained a senior Israeli defense expert who spoke to Breaking Defense on condition of anonymity, given political concerns..

At the same time, Russia, unlike Israel, does not pay much attention to the interests of Tel Aviv, sending absolutely clear unfriendly signals to Israel.. Recently, Moscow announced joint patrols with the Syrian Air Force on territories near the Israeli border.. Russian Air Force forward fighters have already taken part in reconnaissance flights in the Golan Heights region in mid-January, and according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, these flights “will continue on a regular basis”.

Recall that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia expressed their readiness to support Ukraine with weapons..

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Earlier, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said he did not expect a violent confrontation between Ukraine and Russia.. According to him, Tel Aviv is also concerned that Russia's aggression against Ukraine, which is now being actively discussed around the world, is distracting the United States from another important issue - negotiations with Iran on nuclear agreements, which are taking place in Vienna..