Ukraine could invite Russia to peace summit, Zelensky aide says

The Kremlin has rejected previous efforts to get stakeholders around the table
William Mata|Reuters25 February 2024

Ukraine and its foreign partners could invite Russia to a future peace summit to discuss an end to Moscow's two-year-old invasion on Kyiv's terms, a senior Ukrainian official said on Sunday.

Switzerland will host a summit to discuss a vision for peace by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, which could be handed to Russia during a second meeting at a later date.

Andriy Yermak, who is the president’s chief of staff, said: “There can be a situation in which we together invite representatives of the Russian Federation.

“They will be presented with the plan in case whoever is representing the aggressor country at that time will want to genuinely end this war and return to a just peace.”

Mr Zelensky first announced his peace formula at the G20 meeting in November 2022 and it calls for restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity and a total withdrawal of Russian troops.

Kyiv has maintained that it would not speak with Moscow until all Russian troops have left Ukrainian territory.

The Kremlin has said there is no current basis for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and that Kyiv's peace plan was absurd because it excluded Russia.

Meanwhile, on Sunday Ukraine’s defence minister has said that half of the promised aid from the west to the country arrives on time.

Rustan Umerov said that each delayed aid shipment meant Ukrainian troop losses, and underscored Russia's superior military might.

"We look to the enemy: their economy is almost two trillion dollars, they use up to 15 per cent official and non-official budget (funds) for the war, which constitutes over 100 billion US dollars dollars annually.

"So basically whenever a commitment doesn't come on time, we lose people, we lose territory.”

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