Ukrainian President Zelensky said China is expected to join the peace summit in Switzerland next month.
Kyiv:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview with AFP on Friday, urged China and countries in the Global South to participate in a peace summit in Switzerland next month.
The Swiss government announced it would host a high-level peace conference for Ukraine in mid-June, but said Russia would not participate.
Uncertainty surrounds the presence of China, which stated that “a lot of work” would have to be done before the conference.
Chinese leaders believe that “if Russia loses the war… it will be a victory for the United States,” Zelensky said.
“It’s a victory for the West and they want to find a balance between the two… That’s why I would like to see China involved in the peace summit.”
His comments came as Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China this week for talks in which the leaders framed their nations’ ties as a stabilizing force in a chaotic world.
China claims to be a neutral party to the conflict in Ukraine and has sought to play a mediating role.
But it has been criticized, like other countries, particularly in the Global South, for refusing to condemn Moscow’s offensive.
Zelensky made a broader appeal to countries to send delegations to Switzerland.
“If there is no representative of your state, this is a public response that when you say we all want peace, no, you want Russia to win.”
The Ukrainian president pointed to three issues around which consensus could be found in Switzerland.
The first, he said, was that free navigation in the Black Sea could strengthen global food security by allowing grain exports from Ukraine.
Secondly, he hoped for an agreement on a call to suspend strikes on energy infrastructure.
Third, he defended the return to Ukraine of thousands of children deported to Russia, a crime for which the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin.
“If we come out of the summit with these three steps and with the agreement of the majority of countries… that means Russia will not block them further.”
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