Russia is taking systemic and large-scale actions to disrupt Ukraine's Peace Summit
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has stated that Russia is attempting to undermine the authority of the Peace Summit in Switzerland by convincing countries not to attend.
Kuleba noted at a press conference that the stronger the opposition, the more significant the initiative is. "If the Peace Summit were a passing event, we probably would not have seen such systematic work around the world to undermine its holding," he said.
Efforts of three kinds are being made, he asserts.
"The first move is undermining the Peace Summit. Letters are exchanged, public declarations are made, closed meetings are held, where the Russian Federation is attempting to convince countries that this [summit] is about nothing at all, and it is unclear for whose benefit [it is held], and all of this does not matter," said Kuleba.
The second type of endeavour is to persuade individual countries not to participate in the summit at all.
"But more than a hundred countries have already confirmed their participation, so you can see that these efforts are ineffective," the minister said.
"The third form of their subversive actions that is being conducted is an endeavour to convince those countries who have already confirmed and refuse to call off their attendance to attend the summit at the lowest possible level," Kuleba continued.
He stated that the efforts to undermine the meeting are systemic and unparalleled in scope. The most active subversive activity occurs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
"Active diplomatic work is underway from all sides, but at this stage Ukraine is still winning," the minister added.
On Friday 31 May, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland did not match all of Beijing's standards for such an event, making it unlikely to be presented there.
On Sunday 2 June, Zelenskyy accused China of supporting efforts to deter the leaders from attending the summit in Switzerland.
In response, Beijing asserted they have never "fanned fire or fuelled the flames" of the Russian-Ukrainian war.