Ukraine, Russia Reject Negotiation Amid ‘Peace Summit’ Announcement

A soldier of the Ukraine's National Guard 1st brigade Bureviy (Hurricane) ride an APC during combat training at a military training ground in the north of Ukraine on Nov. 3, 2023. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

Ukrainian leadership is meeting with officials in Switzerland today to organize a Global Peace Summit, which Kyiv hopes will build support for its defense against Russia.

Despite the meeting’s moniker, Kyiv and Moscow have dismissed calls for a negotiated settlement to end the war in Europe.

Kyiv claims that a just peace would necessarily mean the expulsion of all Russian forces from Ukraine and an international tribunal for Russian war crimes.

Moscow has vowed to continue its war until it succeeds in forcing Ukraine to give up its military and become a neutral state indefinitely.

“This summit should provide the momentum for what we’ve already accomplished,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“It should also state that the conclusion of the war can only be just, and that the restoration of international law’s force must be truly comprehensive.”

Ukraine, Russia Still Seek Victory

Mr. Zelenskyy is currently in Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, where he hopes to secure more aid for Ukraine’s defense.

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His proposed Global Peace Summit would be the largest such effort to date, but Russia hasn’t been invited.

Speaking at a press conference in Bern, Switzerland, Mr. Zelenskyy told reporters that Ukraine welcomed the participation of any nation that also sought to uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty against Russian aggression.

“We are open to all countries that respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity at the peace summit,” he said.

Similarly, Mr. Zelenskyy said last week that a ceasefire would benefit Russian aggression and not lead to political dialogue.

Fighting in Ukraine has drawn down to a brutal stalemate, with neither side able to effectively gain ground.

Instead, both have turned increasingly to drone and missile warfare, with Kyiv targeting key Russian ships and ammo depots and Moscow targeting Ukraine’s food and energy infrastructure.

However, both sides are suffering from shortages of munitions and have increasingly turned to international assistance to obtain them.

Experts worry that Ukraine won’t be able to sustain its defense through another summer campaign season unless it continues to receive billions of dollars in arms from its international partners.

Russia has likewise become increasingly reliant on Iran and North Korea for drones, missiles, and artillery munitions.

Moscow received more than 1,000 cargo containers of munitions from Pyongyang in the fall and, at the beginning of this month, began striking Ukrainian targets with North Korean ballistic missiles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also refused to alter his demands for peace. Peace will be impossible, he said, until Russia successfully forces Ukraine to demilitarize and accept a state of total neutrality, which would effectively turn the nation into a vassal of Moscow.

“There will be peace when we ... achieve our goals,” Mr. Putin said during a press conference last month.

“Victory will be ours.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.