Russian Foreign Ministry rules out Russia's participation in "peace summit" on Ukraine
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- Russian Foreign Ministry rules out Russia's participation in "peace summit" on Ukraine
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said that Russian representatives are not going to participate in the "peace summit" on Ukraine. Her words are quoted on the website of the Russian ministry on Saturday, September 21.
This is how the diplomat reacted to the statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose term of office ended in May, about the organization of a second "peace summit" this year with the participation of Russian representatives.
"Russian representatives have not participated in any meetings within the framework of the "Burgenstocks process" and are not going to participate. This process itself has nothing to do with the settlement," Zakharova said in her reply.
The diplomat described the goals of the peace summit as discussing the "absolutely unviable" "Zelensky formula" without providing any alternative to resolve the conflict and giving Russia an ultimatum to capitulate.
"But we are not giving up on a political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis, we are ready to discuss really serious proposals. <...> It is impossible to achieve a fair and sustainable settlement without Russia and taking into account its interests," Zakharova said.
The first "peace conference" was held in June this year in Switzerland, and Russian diplomats were not present.
Earlier in the day, Zakharova told Izvestia that it was impossible to reach a settlement on Ukraine without taking into account Russia's interests. According to her, Russia does not refuse from political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict, but Kiev and the West do not think about peace , they need to continue the conflict, the diplomat added.
Prior to that, on September 20, Bloomberg reported that Zelensky was going to present his plan to Biden on September 26. He also stated the desire of many of the country's Western partners to see Russia participate in the next "peace summit."
US political analyst John Mirsheimer said that Russia was winning the conflict in Ukraine and the US authorities realized this. The expert noted that the situation for the Ukrainian side would only get worse, as a result of which the White House would face a real catastrophe.
On September 17, a member of the European Parliament from Hungary, Tamás Deutsch, said that the authorities of the Western countries should agree that their strategy for handling the conflict in Ukraine had failed. The Hungarian representative called on European leaders to change the strategy of financial and military support for Kiev and reminded that arms deliveries to Ukraine threaten a serious escalation.
The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.
