Zelensky urges Biden to attend Ukraine peace summit
Imogen Foulkes ,BBC Switzerland correspondent
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged President Biden to attend a peace summit due to be held in Switzerland in mid June.
Mr Zelensky said his key ally’s possible absence "would only be applauded by Putin, personally applauded by Putin, and it would be a standing ovation".
Reports suggest President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to miss the summit. Although some form of US representation is expected, the president’s absence would be a huge blow for Ukraine.
The summit, which has been planned for months, will be held in the luxury five star Bürgenstock hotel high above beautiful Lake Lucerne.
- It came about after Mr Zelensky suggested to former Swiss president Alain Berset that neutral Switzerland should host such an event.
The doubt over the United States’ attendance, and specifically the presence of President Biden, is a huge blow for Ukraine.
- With Russian troops making advances in recent weeks, President Zelensky desperately needs a big, set piece event – like a summit in Switzerland – to show that the world is still on Ukraine’s side.
- Washington says it supports the meeting, but has not committed, yet, to sending a high level delegation.
The Swiss government has invited more than 160 countries, and says the summit’s goal is "to provide a forum where world leaders discuss paths towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, based on international law and the UN Charter".
But there are glaring obstacles in the way of the summit’s success, chief among them the fact that the country that started the war, Russia, won’t be there. Switzerland says Moscow was not invited, while the Kremlin says it would not attend anyway.
Russia is furious with Switzerland for imposing sanctions - the Swiss have frozen an estimated $14 billion (£11bn) in Russian assets.
- Direct flights to Russia were also suspended; gone are the days when a daily Aeroflot flight from Moscow would land in Geneva, containing Russian diplomats who were then limousined off to their lakeside five-star hotels.
Late last year, these steps prompted Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, to distribute an opinion piece to Geneva journalists arguing that Switzerland had abandoned its neutrality, and was therefore no longer a suitable venue for peace talks.
24 February 2022 - to - Present
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