At Ukraine’s request, Switzerland will hold a peace summit in mid-June. Representatives from 120 countries are expected to attend.
The first peace summit in Ukraine at the level of heads of state will take place in Switzerland on June 15-16. The meeting will take place at the Bürgenstock resort in the Swiss Alps. The main goal of the conference was to create conditions for “comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine,” as well as “a concrete road map for Russia’s participation in the peace process.”
Today, in a telephone conversation, the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and his Swiss counterpart Viola Amherd agreed to attract as many countries as possible to participate in the summit.
According to Western media, invitations to the meeting have already begun to be sent to delegates; more than 120 countries are expected to participate, including the Russian Federation.
Russia’s involvement
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told the press: “The first country we talked to after Ukraine was of course Russia, because the peace process cannot happen without Russia, even if it wasn’t there at the first meeting.”
While Moscow has said it is not opposed to talks to end the war, Russian officials have said they will not participate in talks with Switzerland, a country they believe has “abandoned its neutrality in the war,” the author wrote. by Reuters.
And the Kremlin generally believes that “the initiative of Switzerland without the participation of Moscow is meaningless.”
At the same time, Cassis recalled that in January he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss Switzerland’s peace efforts, but the Russian side “did not respond.”
Intrigue in China
As Bloomberg notes, China’s involvement and to what degree, given Beijing’s influence over Moscow during more than two years of war, is a serious question.
“China has responded more positively than we expected. We have received positive signals from the world’s great powers,” Ignazio Cassis added at a press conference today.
The summit in Switzerland was preceded by four preparatory meetings at the national security adviser level last year. Beijing attended only one of these meetings.
Invitation for Biden
Swiss media reported that US President Joe Biden is also expected to attend the meeting.
Thus, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung noted that the head of the White House, who must attend the G7 summit in neighboring Italy on June 13-15, may attend the negotiations with Ukraine in Switzerland.
Will there still be a conference?
Swiss President Viola Amherd said there was “no guarantee” that the initiative would be a final success, but “doing nothing would be irresponsible for the stability of Europe and for Switzerland.”
He added: “We will not sign a peace plan at this conference. We think there will be a second conference, but we want to start the process with this one.”
Note that, according to Bloomberg, the summit cost about $11 million. At the same time, the publication does not say at whose expense the event was organized, however, a message from the Swiss government mentioned that the meeting was “hosted by the President of the Confederation, Viola Amherd.”
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.