Zelenskyy outlines plans to get Russia involved in peace talks following Peace Summit in June

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine does not want to invite Russia to the Peace Summit that will be held in Switzerland in June so as to avoid it undermining the peace process. However, intermediaries will facilitate opening talks with Russia following the summit.

Zelenskyy explained in an interview with Reuters that Ukraine did not want to invite Russia to the first international Peace Summit in Switzerland because "they [the Russian side – ed.] are always blocking everything, they will undermine the process, and they won’t rest until they present us with their own plan for ending the war, which will inevitably be an ultimatum, as we have seen on many previous occasions".

"We can’t hand the initiative over to them [...] Our agenda can’t be dictated by Russia. This is a war against us, so there is justice in this," Zelenskyy also said.

He added that the fact that so many countries have agreed to take part in the summit indicates that they recognise the foundations of peace Ukraine has outlined, even if they want to make suggestions or clarifications.

Zelenskyy said that the goal of the summit is to come up, between Ukraine and its allies, with a joint stance on three key questions – and then to inform Russia of their position.

"If all countries support these three points, as I said, then a detailed step-by-step plan will be developed and presented to Russian representatives across different platforms that different countries have [...] Then Russia will have to contend with most of the world," Zelenskyy explained the idea behind coming up with a joint position.

In an interview with Reuters, he also confirmed that Ukraine is in talks with its partners regarding using their weapons to strike targets on Russian territory.