Ukraine and “the whole world” agree that Russia should be invited to the next peace summit, says Volodymy Zelensky

The Ukrainian president spoke on a number of topics, including the upcoming peace summit, China, and the American presidential election, in an interview given to several French media outlets on Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview given to several French media outlets on Wednesday, July 31, that “the world “whole” including Ukraine wants Russia to participate in a future peace summit this year. “The majority of the world today says that Russia must be represented at the second summit. Otherwise, we will not achieve significant results. Since the whole world wants them at the table, we cannot be against it.”he explained from Rivne, in western Ukraine.

In mid-June, Ukraine organized a peace summit in Switzerland with a hundred countries, mainly allies. Russia was excluded. China, a diplomatic heavyweight close to Moscow, refused to participate. Ukraine now plans to draw up a plan by November that will serve as the basis for a future summit, to which the Kremlin will be invited. Vladimir Putin said he was waiting for more details about this summit before deciding on possible participation, while stating that the power in place in kyiv was not a legitimate interlocutor.

Voldymyr Zelensky also called on China to pressure its Russian ally to end the war that has torn his country apart for two and a half years, something Beijing has not done publicly so far.If China wants, it can force Russia to stop this war. (…) I don’t want it as a mediator, I want it to put pressure on Russia.” he hammered.

The Ukrainian leader also once again criticized his Western allies, accusing them of prohibiting him from freely using the weapons delivered to strike military targets on Russian territory, from where Moscow’s army can therefore operate with impunity to bomb Ukraine. “It’s a big challenge, the fact that we can’t use weapons [occidentales] as we need it to stop the enemy”he lamented, assuring “Work hard” to convince his allies to let him use these weapons as the Ukrainian army sees fit. However, he ruled out overriding the Western veto, so as not to jeopardize future aid.

Asked about the US presidential election in November and the consequences for aid to Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged the existence of a “risk” for his country. A vital ally of Ukraine, the United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in aid to kyiv to deal with the Russian invasion, under the leadership of President Joe Biden, a Democrat. A policy that his vice president, Kamala Harris, is expected to continue if elected.

“As the President of Ukraine, I must have a dialogue between my team and that of Biden, Trump and now Harris. We need to have these contacts to discuss what the future could be made of, if one side or another wins the election.”the Ukrainian president summed up, while saying he was certain that a “majority” will support Ukraine no matter what.

While the Republican camp has long firmly supported kyiv, a group of convinced supporters of Donald Trump has blocked aid to Ukraine for months, between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. In kyiv and in Europe, many people therefore fear that this essential American assistance could be called into question if Donald Trump wins.