Geneva: Switzerland will host scores of world leaders this weekend to try to map out the first steps toward peace in Ukraine even though Russia, which launched the war, isn’t attending.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government didn’t want Russia involved.
But the Swiss insist that Russia must be involved at some point, and hope it will join the process one day.
The conference on Saturday and Sunday, underpinned by elements of a 10-point peace formula
presented by Zelenskyy in late 2022, is seen as a largely symbolic
effort on the part of Kyiv to rally the international community and project strength against Russian might.
But the question looming over the summit will be how the two countries can eventually end the war without Moscow attending.
The conflict has also led to international sanctions against nuclear-armed Russia and raised tensions between NATO and Moscow. The summit comes as Russian forces have been making modest territorial gains in eastern and northeastern Ukraine.
Swiss officials sent out around 160 invitations. About 90 delegations, including a handful of international organizations like the United Nations, will attend. Roughly half will be from
Europe.
Zelenskyy led a diplomatic push in Asia and beyond to rally participation.
Several dozen attendees will be heads of state or government, including from France, Poland, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada.