KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed hope that he and Swiss President Viola Amherd will set a date within days for a world peace summit in Switzerland with the participation of 80-100 countries.
Russia said such a meeting would be useless if it did not participate. Kiev has already proposed a world peace summit, but said Russia would not be invited.
Zelenskiy said in a television interview that he and the Swiss president would have to agree on the date and then send invitations to world leaders.
“We expect to have 80 to 100 countries.” He added: “This is the number of countries, I think, that will be able to at least try to force Russia into a just peace.”
In the interview, recorded during a visit to the Chernihiv region, where he toured fortification work on Friday, Zelenskiy said there was no specific list of countries yet. “We will agree how it will happen in the next few days,” he said. “Days, I hope, not even weeks.”
Asked about Turkey’s role, Zelenskiy said he was grateful to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for his support and desire to mediate, stressing that Turkey also has other interests and strong relations with Russia.
“Turkey as a mediator is not enough for us,” he said. “Without a doubt, they will be among those leaders, countries that can carry out a mediation mission but not mediation,” she added.
Zelenskiy said the format of the summit will be very complex, keeping in mind the multiple interests involved in a summit involving so many countries, including historical and contemporary relations with Russia, Europe and elsewhere.
“However, let’s get them all together, find the format, the way forward and let’s agree,” he said.