Russia asks states to boycott Zelensky’s ‘peace forum’ 

Moscow considers the proposed meeting a publicity stunt by Ukraine and its Western sponsors

Countries of the Global South should not dignify with their presence the so-called peace summit the West wants to hold without Russia, the country’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

During the regular briefing at the ministry, Zakharova pointed out the “wild logic” of holding a peace summit without Moscow, calling it an attempt to “ritually discuss” the Western agenda and get moral and propaganda support from the rest of the world.

“We call on responsible states, those that truly strive for peace and express the desire and readiness to play a constructive role in finding a political and diplomatic solution to the conflict, not to participate in this provocative scheme,” Zakharova told reporters. “The West needs you at the ‘summit’ only to create the impression its policy has widespread support. This very thing will make the prospects for peace that much more distant.”

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The Russian diplomat pointed out that the West is trying to push the so-called peace formula of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky as the only path to resolving the conflict. However, Moscow has repeatedly pointed out that the ‘formula’ has nothing to do with peace, but is a propagandistic set of demands based on absolutely false pretenses. 

Zakharova reminded reporters that Zelensky’s formula envisions Russia withdrawing from its own territory – including Donbass, Kherson, Zaporozhye and Crimea – paying reparations to Ukraine and submitting to ‘war crimes tribunals,’ among other things. She described it as a “document that combines all the nonsense their propaganda has promoted in one place.”

She compared the ‘peace summit’ with the countless round tables the US has organized over the years regarding the conflict in Syria, none of which produced any results whatsoever. To make peace, one must end the bloodshed and stop the supply of weapons, the diplomat noted, but the US and its allies continue to fuel both.

“Attempts to determine the outcome of the Ukraine conflict without Russian participation are doomed to failure. Otherwise this would have been done long ago,” Zakharova pointed out. 

She also pointed out that Kiev has a history of reneging on its international obligations, mentioning specifically the Minsk Agreements concerning Donbass, which were even endorsed by the UN Security Council. “One can’t believe a word they say,” Zakharova said.