Zelensky Says Ukraine and the ‘Whole World’ Wants Russia at Peace Summit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv and the “whole world” want Russia to participate in a summit to discuss peace in Ukraine.

Zelensky has organized several international meetings that have been billed as “peace summits,” but Russia hasn’t been invited to attend. The most recent was hosted by Switzerland, and some countries were critical of the lack of Russian participation.

“The majority of the world today says that Russia must be represented at the second summit, otherwise we will not achieve meaningful results,” Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday. “Since the whole world wants them to be at the table, we cannot be against it.”

Zelensky first said in July that he wanted Russia to attend the next summit, which marked a significant shift in his position. He had previously ruled out negotiations with Russia unless it withdrew from all the territory it captured in Ukraine, which is a non-starter for Moscow.

Russia has said it’s open to peace talks with Ukraine, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that there are still no concrete plans for a summit. “First of all, so far, there is no summit with Russia’s participation being planned. From time to time, we hear such sporadic musings on Russia’s participation,” he said in a radio interview, according to TASS.

Peskov also cast doubt on Ukraine’s willingness to negotiate peace, saying it was “possible” to hold talks with Ukrainian officials but “impossible to trust them.”

Throughout the war, the only time a real peace deal was on the table was back in March and April of 2022. But the US and NATO discouraged Ukraine from signing an agreement and promised to support its fight against Russia.