Russia Rejects Swiss Peace Summit Follow-up, Calls Process "Fraud"
Russia refuses to participate in any follow-up to the Swiss-organized peace summit, labeling it as "fraud." The country criticizes Ukraine and Western backers, setting conditions for potential talks.
In a recent development, Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for Russia's Foreign Ministry, has announced that Russia will not participate in any follow-up to the Swiss-organized peace summit held in June 2023. Zakharova characterized the process as "fraud," dismissing its significance without Moscow's involvement.
The initial summit, which took place in Lugano, Switzerland, saw delegations from over 90 countries in attendance. However, Russia was notably absent from the gathering. This meeting was part of ongoing efforts to address the conflict that began with Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and escalated with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the President of Ukraine, has expressed hope for organizing a follow-up meeting by the end of 2024, this time with Russian participation. However, Zakharova's statement on the Telegram messaging platform, founded by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov, suggests that such hopes may be in vain.
"This process itself has nothing to do with a settlement. It is another manifestation of fraud by the Anglo-Saxons and their Ukrainian puppets."
Zakharova indicated that Russia is prepared to discuss "truly serious proposals" that consider the "situation on the ground." This phrase is often interpreted as a reference to Russia's claimed annexation of four Ukrainian regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. It's worth noting that these annexations have been widely condemned by the international community, including repeated resolutions by the United Nations General Assembly.
The Russian spokesperson accused Ukraine and its Western supporters of not genuinely seeking peace. She cited Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, launched in August 2024, and Zelenskiy's persistent requests for long-range Western weaponry, such as ATACMS missiles, as evidence of this claim.
Prior to the June 2023 summit, Vladimir Putin set conditions for potential talks with Ukraine. These included a demand for Kyiv to abandon all four regions that Moscow now claims as its own, despite not fully controlling any of them. The Kremlin has since stated that negotiations are impossible while Ukrainian troops are present in the Kursk region.
In contrast, Zelenskiy has based Ukraine's position on a "peace formula" presented at the end of 2022. This 10-point plan includes the withdrawal of all Russian troops, reaffirmation of Ukraine's post-Soviet borders established after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, and a mechanism to hold Moscow accountable for the invasion.
The ongoing conflict has seen multiple failed peace attempts, including the Minsk agreements. As the situation continues to evolve, the international community remains concerned about the potential for further escalation and the challenges in finding a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.
