Switzerland has agreed to organize a high-level “summit” on peace at Ukraine’s request, the presidents of the two countries announced Monday at a press conference in Kehrsatz, near the Swiss capital Bern. .
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But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately warned that Russia would not be welcome at the summit.
“As for the countries that want to participate, we are open to everyone, to all countries in the world that respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity. So we can deduce who will be invited,” he said in response to a journalist’s question about Russia’s possible participation in the summit.
“We hope that this summit will give significant energy to everything that has been discussed. And we hope that the end of the war will be just and the governance of justice will be restored. Switzerland is our partner in this,” he added.
In a press release published after the press conference, Switzerland declared itself “ready to organize, at the request of the Ukrainian president, a summit conference on the peace formula” between high-ranking representatives.
The modalities for the continuation of the operations are being defined. Swiss President Viola Amherd assured that the two countries would start working on the summit on Tuesday.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Switzerland has firmly insisted on its military neutrality. It thus refuses to send weapons to Ukraine or to authorize countries, including Germany, to re-export Swiss-made weapons to Ukraine, which has sometimes earned it criticism from Kyiv.
But it has nevertheless aligned itself with international sanctions targeting Russia, and the Ukrainian president also welcomed Switzerland’s humanitarian support on Monday, particularly in terms of mine clearance.
Two conferences on demining, a key problem for Ukraine, are to be held this year, one in the spring and the other in the fall, Zelensky told reporters.
Switzerland is very involved in this subject and has provided aid of around 400 million francs (427 million euros) to Ukraine and its neighboring countries as part of international cooperation since the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian president also said he hoped that frozen Russian assets could be used for reconstruction. Freezing Russian assets should not be “just a punishment,” he said: “whoever started this war must pay the highest price for it.”