Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service via Agence France-Presse “I appeal to world leaders […] to President Biden, the leader of the United States, and to President Xi, the leader of China […] Please support the peace summit with your leadership and your participation,” Mr. Zelensky said.
France Media Agency to kyiv
Posted at 11:14 a.m.
- Europe
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday urged his American and Chinese counterparts to participate in the Conference on Peace in Ukraine in mid-June, of which Russia, which is not invited, is already predicting 'failure.
“I appeal to world leaders […] to President Biden, the leader of the United States, and to President Xi, the leader of China […] Please support the peace summit with your leadership and participation,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian leader spoke in English in this video which shows him in front of ruins in Kharkiv, the country's second city, still severely hit on Saturday by a Russian strike.
Around 70 countries have so far announced their participation — “mostly at the level of heads of state or government” — in the conference which will be held in the luxury Bürgenstock hotel complex in the heart of Switzerland on 15 and 16 June, according to the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).
Among them, the German Chancellor, his Italian and Spanish and also Canadian counterparts as well as the President of the Commission European Union Ursula von der Leyen and other allies of kyiv.
Half of the countries that have said yes so far are European, according to the FDFA.< /p>
India also promised to come. The Swiss authorities have reiterated the importance they attach to the participation of the Global South.
Biden ? Xi ?
But the presence of Joe Biden and that of Xi Jinping would give entirely different dimension to the meeting.
Washington provides crucial military aid to kyiv and the strategic partnership between China and Russia has been further strengthened since the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow in February 2022.
For the moment, Washington has not confirmed anything, although President Biden will be the day before and the day before not far from Switzerland at the G7 Summit in Italy.
As for China, it reiterated its position again this week, shortly after the second visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin in 6 months.
Beijing supports “an international peace conference held at an appropriate time, recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties as well as fair discussion of all peace plans,” according to a joint communiqué published with Brazil.
According to Washington, China helps Russia increase its production of missiles, drones and tanks but does not export weapons directly.
Failure
Russia has repeatedly indicated that organizing a summit without his participation had “no sense” and castigated the “peace formula” put forward by Volodymyr Zelensky, which essentially provides for a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, financial reparations from Moscow and the creation of a special tribunal to try Russian officials.
On Thursday, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, declared that there was nothing new in the agenda of the summit, of which she already claimed to have the conclusions and that it was “destined to failure.”
Questioned by AFP, the DFA refused to comment and clarified the conference must provide a platform where different peace plans can be presented. “The question of whether we can agree on a final declaration at the end of the conference remains open,” he adds.
In a recent exclusive interview with AFP, Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned three issues which will be negotiated in Switzerland and which the States present could support.
The first concerns free navigation in the Black Sea, to protect global food security by allowing Ukrainian grain exports.
The second aims for agreement on a call to stop strikes on energy infrastructure. And the third is the return to Ukraine of thousands of children deported to Russia, a crime, according to the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin.
“If we arrive at the end of the summit on these three measures with a majority of countries [in the world supporting them], this will mean that Russia will no longer be able to block them,” he said.
Themes confirmed on Sunday by Swiss diplomacy.