The spokesman for the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pierre-Alain Elchinger, confirmed this Monday (8) that preparatory work for the peace conference in Ukraine is being carried out in the country Switzerland, but the date and place will be announced later.
According to the spokesperson, Switzerland expressed its willingness to host the high-level peace conference at Kiev’s request.
“At the request of Ukraine, Switzerland has expressed its readiness to host the first high-level peace conference in Ukraine. Preparatory work is currently underway. The date, location of the conference and participating countries will be announced in due course ” said Elchinger. he said.
“In addition to the perspectives of Ukraine, Russia and Europe, it is also important to listen to the views of the Global South, which will play a key role in the eventual inclusion of Russia in this process. That is why we maintain close contacts with China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Saudi Arabia,” the spokesperson said previously.
In January, Swiss President Viola Amherd agreed to organize a summit on the Ukrainian “peace formula”, including the participation of countries from the Global South. At the beginning of this Monday (8), the Bloomberg published that this would take place in mid-June with the participation of 80 to 100 countries, mainly from States in the Global South. According to sources cited by the agency, the key issue is China’s participation, which will allow Switzerland to “guarantee confidence in the initiative.”
But in March, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, had said that Russia does not plan to participate in the conference on Ukraine in Switzerland.
“This forum will be dedicated to promoting the ultimatum of the ‘Zelensky formula’, although its Swiss organizers pretend that they are looking for a common denominator of peace initiatives from different countries”, stressed Zakharova.
In November 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during the G20 summit, listed conditions for the “Ukrainian peace formula”, including the restoration of “Ukraine’s territorial integrity”, control over the Crimea region, and the withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, “Zelensky’s formula represents, in essence, Russia’s surrender.”
On March 13, in an interview with Russian media, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated that Moscow remains willing to negotiate with Kiev, but reinforced that negotiations should be constructive and take Russia’s national interests into account. He ruled out handing over the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson, which were annexed by Russia in October 2022.
The Ukrainian side demands the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and the reestablishment of the country’s borders as they were in 1991, that is, with the regions annexed by Moscow and Crimea, incorporated by Russia in 2014.
Editing: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
