Zelensky: Ukraine invited Palestine to the Peace Summit, and China refuses other countries to go to it

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi on the sidelines of the international security conference "Dialogue Shangri-La" in Singapore said that Kyiv currently has confirmation from 106 countries of the world regarding their participation in the Peace Summit in Switzerland on June 15, but Russia is trying in every way to prevent its holding, and China is refusing other countries to go to the meeting.

Zelenskyy said this during a conversation with representatives of the world media.

According to him, Russia threatens many countries with a blockade of food products, agricultural products or chemicals, energy prices — so that the states refuse to participate in the Summit. The activation of Russian diplomats in this direction has been reported many times. Zelenskyi says that the authorities of Ukraine have information that "some countries" have begun to help Russia disrupt the Peace Summit", but he did not specify which countries these are.

Representatives of China, who wanted to see Russia in the West, will not come to the conference. Zelenskyi said that China is "working to prevent [some] countries from coming."

As for the participation of US President Joe Biden, this issue is still unclear. The US has confirmed its participation in the high-level Peace Summit, but there is no concrete confirmation of Bidenʼs participation yet, Zelensky noted.

The president also said that Ukraine invited Palestine and Israel to the Summit. He noted that Kyiv invited all countries that support or do not support Ukraine to the event and emphasized that Ukraine is ready to hear everyoneʼs opinion in order to end the war. Only representatives of Russia were not invited, as they can block the process. The final agreed plan will be transferred to the Russian Federation through third countries.

• The first Global Peace Summit for Ukraine will be held on June 15-16 in the Swiss city of Burgenstock. The Presidentʼs Office said that the summit will be devoted to the development of a framework to stimulate the future peace process.
• The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, believes that it makes no sense to invite Russia to the Peace Summit, as it cannot be guaranteed that it will act in good faith. The Presidentʼs Office said that the summit will produce a joint negotiating position that will be handed over to the Russians.