Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Galuzin said his country would not attend Ukraine peace summits, as Kiev ignored Moscow’s proposal.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said today that the first Ukraine peace summit attended by representatives of more than 90 countries and international organizations in Switzerland last month was a “failure”.
“We know that Ukraine and its Western patrons intend to restore their image after the last failed peace summit. They are trying to organize a similar event and invite Russia to participate,” Galuzin said.
Mr. Mikhail Galuzin at a press conference in Tokyo, Japan in 2022. Photo: AFP
Russia was not invited to the first summit in Switzerland. Moscow said discussing the war in Ukraine without its participation was a waste of time. Ukraine said it wanted to hold a similar summit later this year, possibly in a developing country, and that Russia could be invited.
Days before the first peace summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to end hostilities but only if Ukraine abandoned its ambitions to join NATO and recognized four regions it had annexed. Ukraine and its allies vehemently rejected those demands, saying they would amount to surrender.
Deputy Minister Galuzin accused Ukraine of “deliberately disregarding initiatives aimed at resolving the Ukrainian crisis” and predicted the upcoming conference would be “another hoax”.
“We do not accept Ukraine’s ultimatums and will not participate in such ‘summits’,” he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on the same day that there is currently “no exact content” about the idea of holding a second peace summit.
“What proposals are we talking about? You know that President Putin and Russia are ready for dialogue, we have never refused to dialogue. But we must understand what we are talking about,” Mr. Peskov said.
At a two-day summit in Switzerland last month, only 80 countries signed a joint statement, affirming that the UN Charter and “respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty can serve as the basis for achieving comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” The joint statement was not approved by several participating countries, including India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Brazil, all of which have trade relations with Russia and are members of the BRICS economic group.
The conference also sidestepped more difficult issues such as what Ukraine’s post-conflict future will look like, whether Kiev can join the NATO alliance, and how troop withdrawals on both sides will proceed.
Russia now controls nearly a fifth of its neighbor’s territory. Ukraine has vowed to retake all of these areas, saying peace can only be achieved if Russia withdraws its troops and Ukraine’s territorial integrity is restored.