Over 160 countries but not Russia invited for pointless Ukraine conference in Switzerland

The Swiss Foreign Ministry approved the date and location of the peace conference on Ukraine. According to the department, the conference will take place on June 15-16 in Bürgenstock.

President of the Swiss Confederation Viola Amherd, after the meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on January 15, said that he asked her to organise a summit based on the so-called peace formula. The summit will build on discussions that have taken place in recent months. In particular, in addition to Zelensky's "peace formula,” the participants of the summit will also discuss "other peace proposals based on the UN Charter and key principles of international law.”

The purpose of the meeting is to give an incentive to the future peace process. It is planned to "involve both sides in the future peace process" to achieve that.

About 160 delegations have been invited to the event, including the countries of the Group of Seven (G7), Group of Twenty (G20) and BRICS, the European Union the UN, OSCE and the European Council. The Vatican and the Patriarch of Constantinople received invitations as well.

Russia has not received an invitation at this stage. At the same time, the Swiss Foreign Ministry considers it pointless to hold the event without Russia's participation.

"The conference in Switzerland is intended to start the peace process. Switzerland is convinced that Russia should be involved in this process,” the department said in a statement. However, the press secretary of the Russian Embassy in Bern, Vladimir Khokhlov, noted that Switzerland did not even send an invitation to Russia to participate in the summit.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry left Zelensky's participation in the conference open. According to them, the final list of participants will be known shortly before the event. As the Ukrainian leader himself noted, it is the countries from all continents that will participate in the summit based on his "peace formula”.

Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the idea of the Swiss conference on Ukraine was frivolous. In his opinion, the event does not have a purpose to achieve any result.

"We don't understand what this milestone is, this peace conference. What kind of serious conference with serious expectations, what kind of results can we talk about without Russia's participation? This is completely impossible. It is clear that this is some kindI of initiative that is not focused on results. Our position regarding the negotiations is well known," Peskov said.

State Duma deputy Dmitry Novikov said that Ukraine's desire for negotiations with Russia may indicate Kyiv's desire to freeze the conflict in light, inter alia, the upcoming presidential elections in the United States.

"It is clear that the situation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is deteriorating, and Zelensky's Western partners cannot help but see this. The best scenario for them on the even of the US elections would be to freeze the conflict,” he said adding that Kyiv would be able to obtain weapons and ammunition to prepare for a new phase of the confrontation.