MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett exchanged views on Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the Kremlin said in a statement on Wednesday after the two leaders’ telephone conversation.

"Vladimir Putin gave his assessments of the negotiations and of the special military operation to protect Donbass," the statement says.

Bennett "shared his views on the situation around Ukraine taking into consideration his contacts with leaders of some foreign states and suggested some ideas about the ongoing negotiation process between Russian and Ukrainian representatives," the Kremlin said.

It is the sixth telephone conversation between Putin and Bennett since the start of the Russian Armed Forces’ special military operation in Ukraine. On March 5, the two leaders held a face-to-face meeting in the Kremlin. Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian president held a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and on Tuesday evening, Putin spoke by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron.

On February 24, Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. Russia demands that Ukraine should be demilitarized and denazified, should have a non-aligned and non-nuclear status, should recognize Crimea as part of Russia and recognize the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

The Russian-Ukrainian talks began on February 28 in Belarus, then the delegations held two more face-to-face meetings. Now the negotiations are being held via a video link. The Russian delegation is headed by Vladimir Medinsky, aide to the Russian president.