World leaders came together in Switzerland on Saturday in a show of support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan and to apply pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
‘I believe that we will witness history being made here at the summit. May a just peace be established as soon as possible,’ Zelenskyy said on the first day of the two-day summit, which drew more than 90 nations.
Zelenskyy saw the wide attendance as a success and expressed hope that declarations stemming from the talks would shape the peacemaking process. But China’s reluctance to participate has subdued expectations that Russia will be isolated on the international stage. Russia was not invited to attend.
‘Ukraine never wanted this war. It’s a criminal and absolutely unprovoked aggression by Russia,’ he said at a news conference alongside Swiss President Viola Amherd, who said the conflict had brought ‘unimaginable suffering’ and violated international law.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris stood in for U.S. President Joe Biden. During a meeting with Zelenskyy, Harris pledged America’s unwavering support for Ukraine and announced more than $1.5 billion in aid for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and its humanitarian needs after Russia’s 27-month invasion.
‘This war remains an utter failure for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,’ Harris said. ‘It is in our interest to uphold international norms.’
The $1.5 billion pledge includes $500 million in new funding for energy resources and the redirecting of $324 million in previously announced funds toward emergency energy infrastructure repairs and other needs in Ukraine, the vice president’s office said.
Harris also announced more than $379 million in humanitarian assistance from the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to help refugees and others affected by the war.
On the eve of the summit, Putin offered terms to end the war: Ukraine must drop its ambition to join NATO and give up the four provinces Russia now claims: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
On Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni slammed Putin’s demands as ‘propaganda.’
‘It doesn’t seem particularly effective to me as a negotiation proposal to tell Ukraine that it must withdraw from Ukraine,’ she said at the end of a G7 summit in Italy, and as the international conference on ending the conflict opened in Switzerland.
‘Let’s say it seems more like a propaganda initiative … to create a narrative that wants to provide counter-information on where the responsibilities for the conflict lie.’
The United States, Ukraine and NATO dismissed Russia’s conditions.
‘He is not calling for negotiations, he is calling for surrender,’ Harris said.
Zelenskyy said Putin’s cease-fire offer cannot be trusted. Speaking to Italy’s SkyTG24 news channel on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Zelenskyy said he didn’t think Putin would stop his military advances even if his cease-fire demands were met.
Some countries, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Kenya, saw the exclusion of Russia as a hurdle.
‘I must also note that this summit could have been more result-oriented if the other party to the conflict, Russia, was present in the room,’ said Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as they meet for a bilateral talk during the Ukraine Peace Summit near Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 15, 2024.
Calls to include Russia are likely to grow louder, Bob Deen, senior research fellow at the Netherlands-based Clingendael Institute think-tank, said, according to Reuters.
‘There is a risk that if Ukraine waits too long, it might end up with rival formats popping up. It may risk losing the initiative,’ Deen told a forum on the summit’s sidelines.
During talks Saturday, delegates discussed a possible final joint declaration, according to sources cited by the Swiss public news agency Keystone-ATS. On Sunday, they are to focus on nuclear safety, freedom of navigation and food security, and humanitarian issues, including prisoners of war and the Ukrainian children taken to Russia or Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine.
A Swiss military boat patrols Lake Lucerne on June 15, 2024, as the Ukraine Peace Summit gets underway at the Burgenstock resort in central Switzerland.
NATO defense ministers approved a new plan Friday for reliable long-term security aid and military training for Ukraine.
Ukraine also signed a bilateral 10-year security agreement with the U.S. on the sidelines of the G7 meeting. Russian officials, including Putin, denounced the agreement as ‘null and void.’
Meanwhile, the war continued in Ukraine, where at least three civilians were killed by shelling that wounded 15 others late Friday and overnight into Saturday, according to regional officials.
The governor of Russia’s southern Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said in a social media post Saturday that Ukraine was behind shelling Friday that killed five people in a five-story apartment building in the town of Shebekino. Kyiv has not commented on strike.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press.
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