Russia should take part in Global Peace Summit, but not this year, says Swiss Foreign Ministry
Russia was not invited to the upcoming Global Peace Summit this year, but it is expected to participate in subsequent meetings, reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry noted that more than 160 delegations from around the world were invited to the Global Peace Summit, while Russia was not invited at this stage.
"Switzerland has always shown openness to extending an invitation to Russia for this Summit. However, Russia has said repeatedly and also publicly that it has no interest in participating in this first Summit. The Summit in Switzerland is intended to initiate a peace process. Switzerland is convinced that Russia must be involved in this process. A peace process without Russia is unthinkable," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.
The meeting will be based on discussions around the Ukrainian "peace formula" and other peace proposals. The aim of the summit is to inspire the future peace process. In order to achieve this, it is intended to:
→ provide a platform for dialogue on ways to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine;
→ contribute to a common understanding of a possible structure for achieving this goal;
→ jointly define a road map on how to involve both sides in the future peace process.
On May 2, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Global Peace Summit will be held on June 15-16 in the Swiss town of Bürgenstock, near the city of Lucerne.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba believes that it makes no sense to sit down at the negotiating table with Russia, since it will not be possible to achieve honest actions from it, and the Global Peace Summit envisages a coalition of countries that share common principles.
On January 15, Ukraine and Switzerland started preparations for the Global Peace Summit.
On April 8, Bloomberg reported that from 80 to 100 countries will be invited to the summit on the resolution of the war in Ukraine.
On April 10, the Swiss Federal Council announced that the Global Peace Summit will be held on June 15-16. Russia will not take part in it.
On April 24, Zelenskyy stated that Russia wants to disrupt the peace summit and has a plan to do it.