2024-08-01 10:07:47
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with French media, including France Presse, that “the whole world”, including Ukraine, wants Russia to participate in the upcoming peace summit.
“Most of the world is now saying that Russia must be represented at the second summit, otherwise we will not achieve any significant results. Since the whole world wants them to be at the negotiating table, we cannot be against it,” he added.
In June, Ukraine organized a peace summit in Switzerland with the participation of about 90 countries, mostly its allies. Russia was excluded, and China, an important diplomatic partner with close ties to Moscow, refused to participate.
Ukraine will now have until November to draw up a plan that will serve as the basis for a future second summit, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it a condition of participation in the talks that Kiev give up territories occupied by the Russian army and renounce the future its membership in NATO – demands that are unacceptable to the Ukrainians and the West, says AFP, quoted by BTA.
Moscow said it was waiting for more details on the summit before deciding whether to participate, but argued that the current government in Kiev was not a legitimate party to any talks.
Zelensky also called on China to pressure Russia to end the war that has torn his country apart for two and a half years – something Beijing, at least publicly, has so far failed to do.
“If China wants to, it can force Russia to stop this war. China is an influential world power,” he said.
“I don’t want China as a mediator, I want China to put pressure on Russia,” stated the Ukrainian president.
“The fact that we can’t use (Western) weapons the way we should to stop the enemy is a big problem. Do you think it is possible to stop (the Russians) if only three (Ukrainian brigades) out of 14 are equipped?” Zelensky said.
“We cannot influence any election, but of course the US is a challenge today. And there are risks that none of us can foresee,” the Ukrainian leader also said in the interview, adding: “As the president of Ukraine, I have to have a dialogue between my team and that of (Joe) Biden, (Donald) Trump, and now and (Kamala) Harris, we need to have those contacts to discuss what can be done in the future if this or that camp wins the election.”
“Every country in the world can see that the athletes competing under a neutral flag are athletes from Russia and Belarus. I consider these measures half-hearted,” Zelensky said in the interview, explaining his absence from the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris with the “tense situation” on the Eastern Front in Ukraine, where the Russian army has gone on the offensive.