World must prepare ground for direct talks between Ukraine and Russia – Swiss president
Viola Amherd, President of the Swiss Confederation, believes that Ukraine and Russia will eventually have to hold direct talks, and the international community must prepare the groundwork for this.
Source: Amherd at a press conference with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the beginning of the Global Peace Summit in the resort town of Bürgenstock on 15 June, as reported by European Pravda
Details: According to Amherd, the Peace Summit in Switzerland aims to "encourage the peace process and take concrete steps in this direction".
The Swiss president stressed that Russia, with its aggression against Ukraine, has "most seriously violated" the rules-based peace order underpinned by the UN Charter.
"If we want to encourage a process towards peace, Russia must also be included at some point in the future. This is clear to everyone," Amherd said, noting that the international community can "prepare the ground for direct negotiations between the warring parties".
"That is why we are here," the Swiss president added.
Background:
- Russia will not attend the conference in Switzerland, labelling the event biassed and the host country "openly hostile".
- Moreover, on the eve of the summit, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin came up with new "conditions for the start of peace talks": Ukrainian forces must withdraw from the territory of four Ukrainian oblasts, parts of which are occupied by Russia, and Kyiv must declare that it has no plans to join NATO.
- At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not rule out that the summit in June would lay the groundwork for further involvement of representatives of Russia in the negotiations, but it could only be done on the basis of the Ukrainian Peace Formula (which Moscow does not recognise either).
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