Kyiv Makes U-Turn, Calls for Another Ukraine Summit Involving Russia
Moscow insists on assurances that Ukraine will never become part of the Western NATO alliance.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed a second international summit for later this year, possibly with Russia’s participation.
“My goal is to have a fully prepared plan by November,” he added.
“So we need to understand what [Mr. Zelenskyy] is thinking,” Peskov mentioned in a broadcast on July 16.
The initial international summit in the Swiss town of Burgenstock on June 15 and 16 aimed to garner support for Ukraine’s war efforts.
Although representatives from 92 countries attended, Russia, which invaded eastern Ukraine in February 2022, was excluded from the invitation list.
The summit also presented Kyiv’s 10-point strategy for resolving the conflict.
One of the key components of the Ukrainian plan is the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from what Ukraine and its allies consider as Ukrainian territory, including Crimea—the Black Sea area that Russia annexed in 2014.
However, Moscow insists that negotiations must reflect the current “realities” on the battlefield, where Russian forces have been making progress.
Since the conflict began, Russia has captured and effectively annexed large portions of eastern and southern Ukraine, considering four regions as part of the Russian Federation.
The mission stated that Kyiv and its Western supporters showed “no intention of seeking ways to peacefully resolve the Ukrainian crisis.”
“There is no reasonable alternative to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s peace proposal,” the mission remarked on social media.
Last week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba mentioned in a social media post that “no peace initiatives can be based on Russia’s narratives.”
All Roads Lead to NATO
Mr. Zelenskyy issued his call for a second international conference on Ukraine after attending a three-day NATO summit in Washington last week.
At the event, NATO members reiterated their support for Ukraine, pledging an additional 40 billion euros (approximately $43.5 billion) in military aid for the upcoming year.
Despite the overwhelming support, Ukraine did not receive a formal invitation to join the 32-member transatlantic alliance.
Speaking alongside NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, Mr. Zelenskyy expressed that Ukraine was “very close” to achieving its objective of becoming a member of the Western alliance.
According to Moscow’s Peskov, NATO’s willingness to accept Ukraine as a member in the future indicated its desire “to remain [Russia’s] enemy.”
Russia and the West, he added, “are currently at the stage of deep confrontation with no signs of prerequisites for negotiations.”
Moscow justifies its invasion of Ukraine as a “natural response” to NATO’s gradual eastward expansion over the past three decades.
According to Russian officials, NATO has been moving closer to Russia’s borders since the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991, despite prior promises not to do so.
Western leaders reject this assertion, affirming that NATO is solely a defensive alliance that welcomes all democratic nations to join.
In 2023, Finland, which shares an 810-mile border with Russia, joined NATO, abandoning its long-held nonalignment policy.
Earlier this year, Sweden also became the 32nd member of NATO.
‘Defensive Alliance’
When asked about a possible second summit on Ukraine, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller remarked that it was “for Ukraine to decide when and how … to engage in diplomatic negotiations.”
“We have always backed diplomacy when Ukraine is prepared. However, it has never been clear if the Kremlin is prepared for actual diplomacy.”
Regarding the Kremlin’s tense reaction to last week’s NATO summit, a State Department spokesperson informed The Epoch Times: “NATO is a defensive alliance.”
“The United States and NATO have no desire for a military conflict with Russia.”
“But any military action against a NATO member would trigger a strong response,” the spokesperson stated.
“It was the Kremlin that initiated this war. And Putin has the power to end it today.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
