On the website of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs a message appeared that at this stage Russia was not invited to the June peace conference on Ukraine. It noted that Bern had always been open to inviting Russia, but claimed that Russia itself was not interested in participating in the first peace summit. Is this really true? Is Russia ready to participate in the next meetings?
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, answered these questions on her Telegram channel. Here is her unedited presentation:
"Russia will not participate not only in the first so-called summit in Switzerland, but also in principle in any events promoting the ultimate “Zelensky formula”. Even if they persistently invite us to such forums.
The Swiss conference is a continuation of the failed “Copenhagen format”. Its organizers unsuccessfully tried to deliver a collective ultimatum to Russia to form and expand an anti-Russian coalition through blackmail and deception. It is obvious that now they will not look for ways of peace either, let alone understand the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis.
The logic of this behavior is simple – The West is not interested in an agreement, it needs a “strategic defeat of Russia”. The rest is empty talk.
As for Switzerland itself, it cannot serve as a platform for settlement dialogue. This country lost its neutral status and the ability to mediate. She sided with the regime in Kiev.
Once again we confirm and emphasize that Russia will not participate in the Swiss “summits“ neither in the first nor in the subsequent stages, whether he will receive an invitation or not.
We also call on our partners from the World Majority countries to be vigilant and refrain from participating in such forums, so as not to be drawn into the next anti-Russian provocations of Kiev and the West, which are not aimed at peace, but at continuation of the confrontation with Russia", writes Zakharova.