A number of world leaders have made their way to Switzerland for the Ukraine Peace Summit, aimed at pressuring Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
United States Vice President Kamala Harris and the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Colombia, Chile, Finland, Kenya and Poland are among those expected to join Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the summit which starts today, Saturday, June 15, 2024.
India, Turkey and Hungary, which maintain friendlier relations with Russia, are also expected to join.
According to a rough schedule for the summit, a plenary session involving all delegations will be held on Saturday.
On Sunday, June 16, 2024, three topics will be discussed in detail in working groups: nuclear safety, freedom of navigation and food security, and humanitarian aspects.
These will look at Black Sea shipping, prisoners of war, civilian detainees and deported children.
German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz called the event an important step towards progress.
Speaking with a German news channel, Scholz said, “Many questions of peace and security will be discussed, but not the very biggest. That was always the plan.”
“This is a small plant that needs to be watered, but of course also with the perspective that more can then come out of it,” he added.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda also said that the summit aimed to bring home to more geographically distant countries the scale of the threat to the world posed by Moscow.
Meanwhile, China will not participate in the summit as Russia, which had expressed no interest in attending, was uninvited.
Without China, Western hopes of isolating Russia have faded, while recent military reverses on the battlefield have put Ukrainian forces on the back foot.
On Friday, Russian President, Vladimir Putin announced that his country would end the war if Ukraine agreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow – demands Kyiv swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender.
Ukraine and the US swiftly dismissed Putin’s demands, but his statement apparently reflected growing confidence that Russian forces have the upper hand in the war.
Meanwhile, Scholz said, “Everyone knows that this was proposal wasn’t meant seriously, but had something to do with the peace conference in Switzerland.”
Harris Announces $1.5bn In Aid For Ukraine
US Vice President, Kamala Harris, announced more than $1.5bn (£1.2bn) in aid for Ukraine.
The announcement was made as Harris attended the Ukraine peace summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she is due to meet Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and address the summit’s plenary session.
According to Harris’ office, the $1.5bn includes $500m (£395m) in new funding for energy assistance and the redirecting of $324m (£256m) in previously announced funds toward emergency energy infrastructure repair and other needs in Ukraine.
In a statement, Harris’ office said, “These efforts will help Ukraine respond to Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine energy infrastructure by supporting repair and recovery, improving Ukraine’s resilience to energy supply disruptions, and laying the groundwork to repair and expand Ukraine’s energy system.”
She also announced more than $379m (£300m) in humanitarian assistance from the state department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to help refugees and other people affected by the war.
The money is to cover food assistance, health services, shelter, and water, sanitation and hygiene services for millions of Ukrainians.
Harris, who will spend less than 24 hours at the gathering in Lucerne, Switzerland, will be standing in for President Joe Biden at the event.
The U.S President, Joe Biden, met with Zelenskyy both at the G7 summit, where they signed a US-Ukraine bilateral security agreement, and in France for events surrounding the 80th anniversary of World War II D-day invasion.
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