US says it is encouraging China to join Peace Summit

The US State Department says that the US is encouraging China to take part in the Peace Summit on Ukraine, which will be held in Switzerland on 15-16  June.

"So we certainly would encourage China to participate in that summit. They have attended previous versions of the summit. We thought that their presence was helpful. We think their presence would be helpful here," Matthew Miller, US State Department spokesperson, said at a briefing.

He added that China should increase pressure on companies that, according to Washington, help the Russian defence industrial complex. Miller is convinced that this would be "even more helpful."

Commenting on China's refusal to participate in the summit, the US State Department said earlier that China could play a valuable diplomatic role in resolving this conflict if it wanted to.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland does not meet all the criteria Beijing sets for such platforms, which is why it is "unlikely" to be presented.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Beijing of collaborating with Moscow to disrupt the Peace Summit after China's official signal of non-participation in the meeting in Switzerland.

At the same time, the Foreign Ministry denied that Ukraine's interests were compromised in the draft decision of the Peace Summit to be held next week in Switzerland.

Read more in the article Swiss Peace Summit may only harm Ukraine as everything going differently than planned