Kamala Harris, Volodymyr Zelensky, Emmanuel Macron and around sixty heads of state and government are meeting this June 15 in Switzerland. A peace summit in Ukraine under high security, without Russia and without China; therefore without stakes, one might fear. But that’s not what Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke at this summit, said.
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The Ukrainian president thanked the Swiss for hosting the summit, reports our correspondent in Geneva Jeremy Lanche. He welcomed the hundred participants present. And even if some prominent leaders did not make the trip, he assures us: this conference will be a landmark.
“ We have succeeded in reviving the idea that the common efforts of nations can end war and bring about a just peace », Declares the Ukrainian president. “ Whatever is decided today will be part of the future peace process that we all need. I believe history is being written here. »
Today is the day of our common success. We have indeed succeeded in giving diplomacy a chance. Ukraine never wanted this war, criminal and provoked by Russia. The only one who wanted it is Putin. But whatever it is, the world is stronger than him…
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian President
“ We want to ensure a peace process »
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will make peace proposals to Russia once they have been agreed by the international community. “ When the action plan is on the table, accepted by all and transparent to the people, then it will be communicated to the representatives of Russia, so that we can truly end the war “, he declared at the opening of the first peace summit in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky seems very confident, maybe too much even. Just before the Ukrainian president, his Swiss counterpart Viola Amherd recalled that the summit’s objectives remained modest. Namely, creating favorable conditions for the emergence of a peace process. There Russia must necessarily be part of it, but under what conditions. That’s the whole point.
“ We wish to inspire a process for a just and lasting peace “, declared Swiss President Viola Amherd, alongside her Ukrainian counterpart. “ As an international community, we can prepare the ground for direct discussions between the warring parties “, she added, and continued: “ If we want to inspire a peace process, Russia must also be involved at some point. This is clear to everyone. »
Read alsoSwitzerland hosts a conference on peace in Ukraine from which Russia is excluded
“ We need a fair and just peace »
The day before, the Russian president demanded the surrender of Ukraine before any peace talks. “ What we need is not a dictated peace, but a just and fair peace that takes into account the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine », retorted the German Chancellor Olaf Scholzthis Saturday on the ARD channel, echoing the condemnations of the United States and theNATO.
What he ultimately proposes is to engrave an imperialist raid into the texts. What we need is not a dictated peace, but a just and equitable peace that takes into account Ukraine’s integrity and sovereignty. This is why the peace conference currently being held in Switzerland is an important first step. The big questions will not yet be resolved there. But the groundwork is laid so that progress can be made on the big issues, perhaps at another conference. It is certain that President Putin’s statements are aimed at the internal politics of different countries. He knows that there are many citizens who aspire to peaceful development. And that is why he wants to erase and conceal the fact that it is he who started a brutal war and who continues it without fail.
Olaf Scholz denounces a “dictated peace” wanted by Vladimir Putin
Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the “ ultimatum ” to the “ Hitler » from the Russian president, who launched the invasion of the Ukrainian neighbor in February 2022.
Read alsoPutin demands the surrender of Ukraine, Zelensky denounces a “Hitler”-style “ultimatum”
The head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni dismissed as “ propaganda » the proposals of the Russian president Vladimir Poutine to negotiate peace with Ukraine. “ It does not seem to me particularly effective, as a negotiating proposal, to tell Ukraine that it must withdraw from Ukraine », quipped Giorgia Meloni during the closing press conference of the summit of G7 which was held in southern Italy. “ This seems more like a propaganda initiative “, she added.
A second summit is planned, in which kyiv hopes that a Russian delegation will participate, Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, explained on Tuesday.