Russia has announced it will not participate in any future iterations of the Swiss-hosted peace summit held in June, labeling the process a "fraud," Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sept. 21.
Moscow was not invited to the June summit attended by over 90 countries, dismissed the discussions as irrelevant without its involvement. President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, has expressed hope for a follow-up meeting by the end of the year, with the goal of including Russia.
Zakharova criticized the summit on Telegram, saying: "This process itself has nothing to do with a settlement. It is another manifestation of fraud by the Anglo-Saxons and their Ukrainian puppets." She emphasized that Russia is open to considering "truly serious proposals" that acknowledge the "situation on the ground," a vague reference to Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions, none of which it fully controls.
Zakharova accused Ukraine and its Western allies of having no interest in pursuing peace, referencing Ukraine's recent incursion into Russia's southern Kursk region and Zelensky's continued requests for long-range Western weapons. She said that Ukraine and its Western backers "were not thinking about peace."
Ahead of the June summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin had outlined conditions for negotiations, which included Kyiv's surrender of the four oblasts that Moscow now claims. Russia has since said it won't engage in talks as long as Ukrainian forces remain in the Kursk region.
Zelensky has a plan on how to end Russia’s war with Ukraine’s victory. Kyiv remains tight-lipped about the specifics of the plan as Zelensky readies to present it to U.S. President Joe Biden and American presidential candidates during his upcoming visit. The plan is expected to cover military, political, diplomatic, and economic strategies.
Dinara Khalilova
