(Geneva) A few days before the peace conference in Ukraine without Russia, Kyiv considered on Tuesday the participation of Moscow in a subsequent summit, in order to receive a road map approved by the international community to end the conflict.
“We plan to jointly prepare the common plan that will be supported by all responsible countries. And we are considering the possibility of inviting a representative of Russia to the second summit and presenting this common plan together,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, told European media.
“For the second summit, we will work with all colleagues, with all countries that wish to participate,” Iermak emphasized via video link from Berlin.
For this close friend of the Ukrainian president, the “bad experience” of previous negotiation formats involving Moscow, before Russia’s total invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, showed that to end the war it will be necessary to rely on a broad platform of support rooted in international law.
A perspective supported by “100 or more countries” from all continents, rather than just Ukraine’s position, “will be a very difficult plan to challenge,” he said.
Dozens of world leaders will meet in Switzerland on Saturday and Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a summit designed as a “first step” to find a path to peace in Ukraine, but without Moscow or Beijing.
This “High Level Conference on Peace in Ukraine”, which is to be held in the Burgenstock hotel complex, will take place in the wake of the G7 meeting, from Thursday to Saturday, in southern Italy, with the participation in Mr. Zelensky’s two meetings.
G7 leaders hope to reach an agreement on the use of interest from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, targeted since February 2022 by a deadly Russian offensive.
Mr. Zelensky will then join representatives of more than 90 states and organizations in Switzerland, including French President Emmanuel Macron, US Vice President Kamala Harris and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
About half of the leaders will be Europeans. The objective of the summit, requested by Kyiv, is to “inspire a future peace process”, but the outcome of the meeting remains uncertain.