Swiss President Viola Amherd says the peace conference in Ukraine that her country is hosting later this month is just the start of negotiations and will likely be followed by talks with Russia.
“It is clear to us that we will not sign a peace agreement at the end of the conference,” Amherd said on Friday in a commentary published by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Both sides must be at the table for peace, she said, referring to the fact that Russia has not been invited to attend the Swiss summit. “Russia could then be present at a possible follow-up conference,” she said.
Switzerland invited about 160 countries to discuss possible ways to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine. Russia, which launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, has not received an invitation. Ukraine is participating.
So far, more than 80 countries have confirmed that they will participate in the meeting in Switzerland on June 15 and 16.
Moscow said Russia would not have attended even if it had been invited.
Amherd further said that the conference aimed to create a platform for dialogue, where the first step would be to discuss how to achieve peace in Ukraine.
It would not be about peace in Ukraine in the narrow sense, but “only” about humanitarian issues, nuclear safety, freedom of navigation and food security, she said.
“We want to build trust and find solutions to these issues, which are important for the civilian population and later also for peace,” she said.
