Ukraine holds new online conference on peace, calls for revised security system

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(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff called on Monday for a new international security system to preclude future instances of armed aggression, as he addressed an online conference on securing peace following Russia’s invasion.

Andriy Yermak said 66 countries and international organisations had taken part in the conference, devoted to one point of the president’s peace plan on ending the more than 2 1/2-year-old war with Russia. The discussions focused on future instances of escalation and aggression.

Zelenskiy planned to present to parliament this week a “victory plan” – a follow-up to the peace plan he drew up in late 2022 calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine’s 1991 borders.

That plan formed the basis of a “peace summit” held in Switzerland in June.

Yermak, writing on Zelenskiy’s website, said existing security systems “had been unable to propose active means to rule out Russian aggression” and its world-wide consequences.

“We need a renewed security architecture based on international law and the strengthening of Ukraine’s own defence capabilities,” he wrote. “This system should cover not only a military component, but also sanctions, financial support, investments and broad cooperation in various fields.”

Yermak did not say which countries took part in the conference, one of a series in preparation for world-wide summits and intended to draw support from countries in the Global South, particularly Africa and Asia.

Zelenskiy has said he wants to hold a new “world summit” before the end of 2024. Russia was uninvited to the Swiss gathering, dismissed its discussions as irrelevant and said it would attend no such meeting in the future.

Zelenskiy discussed his victory plan last week with leaders of Ukraine’s European allies and pressed for permission to use Western long-range weapons against Russian targets.

Few details of the plan have been disclosed. Zelenskiy says it seeks to strengthen Ukraine “both geopolitically and on the battlefield” before any kind of dialogue with Russia.