Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will “look into” supplying weapons to Ukraine if he returns to power in next month’s Israeli elections.

In an interview in USA Today, Mr Netanyahu also anticipated being asked to mediate in talks between Ukraine and Russia.

He believed that President Putin was “guided by his vision of reconstituting a great Russian realm. And I hope he's having second thoughts about it.

“But I don't want to play psychologist. I want to be in the position of being prime minister, getting all the information, then making decisions on what and if we do anything in this conflict beyond what has been done so far.”

Noting criticism of the Israeli government for not supplying arms to Ukraine, the opposition leader added: "I was asked about that recently. And I said I'll look into it when I got into office.”

Mr Netanyahu also said that he was approached to mediate between Ukraine and Russia when the war broke out but that he left it to then prime minister Naftali Bennett.

Meanwhile, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office has described Russia as “the European Hezbollah” during a conversation with Jewish leaders during which he made a renewed appeal for Israel to supply military aid.

The Algemeiner reported that Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak told the online gathering that “Russia is a terrorist state that today uses Iran in its fight against the US and its allies, including Israel. Russia is the European Hezbollah.”

Mr Yermak said the Ukraine government regarded Israel’s missile defence shield as one of the world’s most effective – and one that would significantly boost its ability to withstand Russian attacks.

Kyiv Chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich also addressed the meeting, declaring that “in this historical struggle, Israel must be on the side of truth and protecting people’s lives”.