Zelensky claims Moscow is planning to derail Swiss peace conference 

Ukraine is aware of a Russian plan to derail the peace conference, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. Keystone

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia wants to prevent the peace conference set to be held in Switzerland in June.

There is a plan to do so, Zelensky told foreign diplomats, including the Swiss ambassador, in Kyiv.

Alleged Russian disruptive activities were not confirmed by the Swiss defence ministry on Thursday at the request of the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA; reference was made only to Russian accusations that Switzerland had not invited Russia to the conference at the Bürgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne in June. 

The Swiss Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) likewise did not reveal any details. In response to an enquiry, it stated that it “does not explain specific security measures in order not to jeopardise their effectiveness”. 

Secret service information 

In front of Ukrainian diplomats and foreign ambassadors, Zelensky referred to intelligence information. According to this, there is “concrete data that Russia not only wants to disrupt the peace summit, but also has a concrete plan: how to do this, how to reduce the number of participating countries, how to proceed to ensure that there is no peace for much longer”, the president said on Wednesday evening. He did not provide any further details. 

Zelensky said that the partners would be informed through diplomatic channels about Moscow’s attempts, based on information from his presidential office. The president further announced that the world’s heads of state and government would soon receive invitations to the meeting. 

The Ukraine peace conference, planned for June 15-16, is to take place directly after the G7 summit of leading democratic industrialised nations in Italy. The conference, which will bring together representatives from up to 80 countries, is intended to win over Russia-friendly powers such as India, South Africa and Brazil in favour of Ukraine’s ideas for a peace solution. China in particular is being courted to take part. 

Incompatible demands 

For over two years, Russian troops have been waging war in Ukraine, using violence against the civilian population and destroying non-military infrastructure. This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order to invade the southern neighbouring country on February 24, 2022, with the justification of a need to demilitarise and denazify the country. Zelensky, who is Jewish, was to be removed from power. 

Russia has pronounced all peace talks without its participation pointless. Moscow has repeatedly emphasised its willingness to engage in talks, but with imposed conditions which are more likely to result in Ukraine’s capitulation. Ukraine’s goal is to regain all territories occupied by Russia, which for Putin would amount to a failure of his invasion. 

Adapted from German by DeepL/kc/ts

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