Foreign Minister Kuleba: Russia's efforts to sabotage Global Peace Summit highlight its significance

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Russia is attempting to undermine the credibility of the Global Peace Summit and use its influence to persuade world leaders and delegations not to attend it.

The peace talks, which will be held in Switzerland from 15 to 16 June, are scheduled to include representatives from 106 states.

Last month, Kuleba said that the event does not envision Russia’s participation. Instead, it aims to unite countries with the same principles and approaches as Ukraine to set up a strategy for ending Russia’s war in Ukraine. A dialogue with Russia could take place only after this step.

During a meeting with Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna in Kyiv, Kuleba noted that the stronger Russia’s attempts to sabotage the Global Peace Summit, the more important the summit is.

“If the Peace Summit were an insignificant event, we wouldn’t see such systematic efforts worldwide to undermine it,” he said.

According to him, the Russian strategy to sabotage the event includes three steps.

“The first type is discrediting the Peace Summit. Letters are being sent, public statements are being made, and closed meetings are being held where the Russian Federation tries to convince countries that the summit is meaningless and irrelevant,” Kuleba explained.

The second step involves attempts to persuade specific countries not to participate in the summit at all.

“But over a hundred countries have already confirmed their participation, so you can see that these efforts are ineffective,” the minister noted.

The third tool of undermining the event is attempting to convince the countries that have confirmed their participation and are not withdrawing to attend the summit at the lowest possible level, Kuleba continued.

These actions by Russia are systematic and are being held at an unprecedentedly large scale, with the most active subversive work being conducted in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Currently, active diplomatic work is being carried out on all fronts, “but at this stage, Ukraine is still winning,” the minister added.

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Foreign Minister Kuleba: Russia’s efforts to sabotage Global Peace Summit highlight its significance