(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that Russia was still trying to disrupt next month’s global “peace summit” dedicated to the conflict with Russia and was pressuring countries to stay at home. distance from the gathering.
Zelenskiy wants the summit, scheduled for June 15-16 in Switzerland, to produce a front of pressure on Russia and advance his “peace formula” – which calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of the 1991 borders of the Ukraine.
In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said “nearly 100 countries and international organizations” were now involved in “global efforts” to resolve the conflict.
“Russia will no longer be able to disrupt the summit even if it tries to do so,” Zelenskiy said.
“It puts pressure on leaders, openly threatening various countries with destabilization. And this is one of the consequences of the fact that the world is giving too much time to the terrorist state.”
He said officials from the Ukrainian government, parliament and other institutions were working to ensure maximum participation and make the summit “truly effective, which is necessary to bring real peace closer.”
The Swiss hosts of the summit did not invite Russia and Moscow considers the event pointless without its participation.
The Kremlin says it is ready to negotiate an end to the conflict and suggests as a starting point talks held during the first weeks of the war in 2022, which appeared close to a deal, which Ukrainian negotiators later rejected.
Moscow considers Zelensky’s plan unworkable and says any discussions must take into account “new realities”, including the fact that Russia holds around 18% of Ukraine’s territory.
Russia annexed four Ukrainian regions several months after its full-scale invasion in February 2022, although it does not have full control over any of them.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksander Kozhukhar; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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