GENEVA, March 22 Switzerland does not rule out that it will postpone the peace conference on Ukraine planned for the summer, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told reporters in Kenya.
«By mid-April we will decide what we will do. Are we holding this conference, yes or no? Are we postponing this conference? Are we doing two conferences so that both discussions (with the Russian Federation and Ukraine — ed.) can develop simultaneously? This is exactly what We are currently in an intermediate stage, which we call research,” said Cassis, as reported by the RTS television and radio company.
The head of the Swiss Foreign Ministry assured that all states “recognize Switzerland’s legitimacy of this step” and are “glad” that Bern is doing this. “Everywhere there is a desire to make a contribution. But there are also the desires of some states that are not always compatible, for example, in relation to the West, the Americans or the European Union,” the politician added.
Swiss President Viola Amherd previously reported that Vladimir Zelensky asked to organize a peace summit on Ukraine. As the head of Zelensky’s office, Andriy Ermak, previously stated, Kyiv wants to hold summits to approve the Ukrainian “peace formula.” Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis noted that there is no alternative to Russia’s participation in the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine and it is impossible to carry out the peace process without the Russian Federation. He stated that Russia would be invited.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, at a meeting with Cassis in January, emphasized that Moscow, when building bilateral relations, takes into account Bern’s departure from the principles of neutrality and his support for Kyiv. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said in February that Switzerland’s potential as an “honest broker” in resolving conflicts has exhausted itself for Russia. In March, she stressed that Russia does not intend to take part in the conference on Ukraine in Switzerland, even if it is officially invited.
Moscow has repeatedly indicated that it is ready for negotiations, but Kyiv has introduced a ban on them at the legislative level. The West calls on Russia for negotiations, for which Moscow shows readiness, but at the same time the West ignores Kyiv’s constant refusals to engage in dialogue. The Kremlin stated that there are currently no prerequisites for the situation in Ukraine to transition to a peaceful direction; the absolute priority for Russia is to achieve the goals of the special operation; at the moment this is only possible through military means. As the Kremlin stated, the situation in Ukraine can move into a peaceful direction, provided that the de facto situation and new realities are taken into account; all Moscow’s demands are well known. Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that if Ukraine wants a negotiation process, then theatrical gestures are not needed, the decree prohibiting negotiations with Russia must be repealed. According to him, Russia has never been against resolving the conflict in Ukraine through peaceful means, but subject to the security guarantees of the Russian Federation.