Kuleba: Russia will eventually have to be involved in peace talks with Ukraine

06/21/2024 / By Ramon Tomey

Russia will eventually have to be involved in peace talks in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

The official made this remark to journalists during the last day of the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held in the Alpine resort of Burgenstock in Switzerland from June 15 to 16. According to him, both belligerents in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war will have to sit down and negotiate at some point to reach a definitive peace.

“The idea is that the next summit should be the end of the war. And of course, we need the other side at the negotiating table as well,” Kuleba said. “It is obvious that both sides are needed to end the war.”

He added that Kyiv understands “perfectly well that the moment will come when it will be necessary to talk to Russia.” Until then, he reiterated that everyone backing Kyiv must “ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest position at that time.”

“Russia isn’t invited to the two-day summit and has described the conference as meaningless, given the unwillingness of Kyiv and its Western backers to consider Moscow’s terms,” Russia Today (RT) pointed out.

“Countries do not want to take part in an event that is meaningless,” Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on June 4. “To discuss Ukraine without Russia’s participation is absolutely absurd. The event is not geared to achieving any result.”

According to Peskov, “many countries do not want to waste time [on] an absolutely absurd activity and an idle pastime.”

The summit was largely based on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposed 10-point “peace formula,” which Moscow has rejected. In turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated on June 14 his terms for a ceasefire: Ukraine must withdraw troops from territories annexed by Russia, and must abandon its plan to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Kuleba: Other nations see the conflict differently

Kuleba also told reporters during the summit that some countries outside Europe and North America have a different view of the Russia-Ukraine war.

“There were voices from the Global South about difficult compromises that need to be made,” he said. “This is not the language we hear from Western powers.”

According to a list published by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, 78 of the 92 countries who attended the summit left their signatures on the final communique. Several attendees argued that Russia should have been present at the negotiating table.

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud remarked that any meaningful progress toward peace will require “Russia’s participation,” as well as a “difficult compromise” between the parties. Riyadh did not sign the final communique, according to RT.

Notably absent is China, who also proposed to broker peace between the two belligerents. It has refused to take part in the summit as it believes both warring parties should be there. Despite this, Kyiv has accused Beijing of helping Moscow to dissuade countries from signing up for the peace summit.

Turkey meanwhile reiterated its readiness to host peace talks. Ankara hosted negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in spring of 2022, but the talks collapsed after then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson convinced Zelensky to scrap the peace deal. (Related: Boris Johnson has meltdown after being exposed for sabotaging Ukraine peace deal.)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned that the ongoing hostilities could escalate and potentially trigger a global nuclear conflict. Thus, he argued that both Ukraine’s 10-point peace plan and Russia’s terms for a ceasefire are “important steps” and a “glimpse of hope” that could eventually end the bloodshed.

Head over to WWIII.news for similar stories.

Watch Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterating his conditions for a ceasefire and peace talks in the clip below.

This video is from the Cynthia’s Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.