World leaders respond to Ukraine peace conference

On Monday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it will support a peace conference recognized by Moscow and Kyiv. This comes after President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping to participate in the peace summit in Switzerland personally.

"We have confirmed the participation of more than 80 countries and continue to work with leaders to invite them to the Summit. I am grateful to everyone who truly helps peace. I appeal to the leaders of the world who are still on the sidelines of the global efforts to prepare the Peace Summit: President Biden, the leader of the United States, and President Xi, the leader of China. We don't want the UN Charter to burn like these books. I hope you don't either. Please show your leadership in bringing peace - real peace, not pausing between blows", said President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in a special video.

Zelensky, against the backdrop of rubble, said that the most terrifying consequence of the war is the scorched void. "A war that we didn’t want in Ukraine, that we haven’t provoked, and in which Ukraine is defending itself from Russian attempts to seize our resources and territories and destroy our national identity. And the world sees it," he added.

According to Zelensky, a global effort is needed - a peace summit with leaders whom Russia cannot deceive.

- We have confirmed the participation of more than 80 countries and continue to work with leaders to invite them to the Summit. I am grateful to everyone who truly helps peace. I appeal to the leaders of the world who are still on the sidelines of the global efforts to prepare the Peace Summit: President Biden, the leader of the United States, and President Xi, the leader of China. We don't want the UN Charter to burn like these books. I hope you don't either. Please show your leadership in bringing peace, Zelensky appealed on Sunday.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to Zelensky's appeal: "We support a peace conference recognized by both Moscow and Kyiv," reads the brief statement. This means that Beijing will not participate in the peace summit.

On Friday, Bloomberg reported that Biden would also likely not participate in the peace summit in Switzerland, as the timing conflicts with the presidential campaign being conducted in California at that time.

Kyiv had already expressed disappointment over the Chinese side's expected absence in Switzerland, which is seen as a key player in negotiations with Russia. China and other countries of the so-called Global South expected Vladimir Putin to receive an invitation to the conference. However, Ukraine and its allies do not want to cooperate with Moscow until any preliminary terms for a future peace agreement are established.

Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, claims that Russia is trying to create confusion at the upcoming peace summit in Switzerland by declaring a desire for a truce. Earlier, Reuters reported that four Russian sources indicated Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate a ceasefire.

Reuters cited one source stating there will be no agreement with Ukraine as long as President Volodymyr Zelensky is in office.

Four sources from the Reuters agency suggest that Putin might be ready to content himself with the territories of Ukraine that he has gained so far and halt fighting along the current front line. This would mean that significant areas of four Ukrainian regions - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia - would remain under Russian control but without complete control over any of them. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated there is no question of returning these areas, as they are now permanently part of Russia under the constitution.

If a ceasefire does not occur, Putin will seek to capture the largest possible area to increase pressure on the authorities in Kyiv, Reuters informants note. Currently, Russian forces control about 7% of Ukraine's territory.