Ukraine peace proposal not on agenda at Swiss summit: Kremlin
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed Russia's hope for a more "constructive and promising event" in the future to discuss the Ukraine issue.
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French President Emmanuel Macron walks as he attends an official family photo session during the Ukraine peace summit in Buergenstock, Switzerland, June 15, 2024 (AP)
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik on Saturday that discussions on peace in Ukraine are not part of the agenda at the Swiss-hosted summit, and Russian President Vladimir Putin's ceasefire proposals are not being considered.
When asked whether rejecting Russia's peace proposal in Switzerland would close the issue, Peskov said, "The issue of peace in Ukraine is not being discussed in Switzerland. The discussions in Switzerland are focused on humanitarian and near-humanitarian issues."
Peskov added that Putin's proposal for talks on the situation in Ukraine received numerous non-constructive official reactions from summit participants in Switzerland.
"Many official reactions, official statements of a non-constructive nature," Peskov told reporters.
Peskov added that the Kremlin had "nothing to convey" to the participants of the Swiss summit. He also expressed Russia's hope for a more "constructive and promising event" in the future to discuss the Ukraine issue.
100 delegations from around the world, standing together with a common goal: to inspire a process towards a just & lasting peace in Ukraine. #UAPeaceSummit#PathToPeace pic.twitter.com/1mVa3h6pXS
— Swiss MFA (@SwissMFA) June 15, 2024
Meanwhile, Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, said on Saturday that Kiev aims to present a future joint peace plan, based on the "peace formula," to Moscow at a potential second summit.
"We are very clear in our philosophy of the 'peace formula' and this procedure. Today, tomorrow, the leaders will discuss the principles of the future joint plan, which will consist, which we would like to be based on the 'formula' … Then this peace plan, this joint plan will be ready. We are looking [for a] possibility to present this plan to the representatives of Russia. We think it can happen at the second summit," Yermak told reporters on the sidelines of the Swiss summit, with a video of his statement published by Ukraine's Channel 24 on Telegram.
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Switzerland is hosting a high-level conference on Ukraine at the Buergenstock resort near Lucerne from June 15-16. The Swiss hosts have confirmed that approximately 90 countries and organizations will participate. According to Vladimir Khokhlov, the spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in Bern, Russia has neither received nor would attend an invitation to the conference, as stated in April to Sputnik.
On May 6, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov labeled the initiative as a "mockery of negotiations."
"We have nobody to talk to. I cited some statements by Ukrainian, US, and European leadership, the political class. None of them are ready for a serious conversation. They are 'playing' a parody of negotiations by having a meeting in Switzerland. The Copenhagen format is completely dead-ended," Lavrov told Bosnian broadcaster ATV.
Likewise, on May 13, Peskov said that "the peace conference is clearly not result-oriented."
As for Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, the Summit was labeled a "hoax" invented by the Biden administration.
"It is just another hoax invented by the US State Department. And everyone understands this. How can a 'peace conference' be organized by those who simultaneously supply weapons to the conflict zone with supposedly pacifist initiatives?" the spokesperson said.
