Retired General Keith Kellogg and Fred Fleitz, who previously served on the National Security Council in the Trump administration, said the proposed ceasefire would freeze the frontlines in their current position.
June has been a busy month for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a speech at Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he outlined his terms for peace negotiations with Ukraine and proposed establishing an alternative international security system in collaboration with China. A week later, during a two-day visit to
The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur explains the top stories in Ukraine this week, from Russia’s stalled campaign in Kharkiv Oblast to Ukraine’s Global Summit.
Vladimir Putin on June 14 said Moscow would only cease fire and enter peace talks if Ukraine withdraws from the four Ukrainian regions claimed – but not fully controlled – by the Kremlin.
"We see growing global support for the Peace Formula, meaning the support for the UN Charter, which we want to restore to full force," Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
Ukraine wants to hold a second global peace summit before the end of 2024, Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of the Presidential Office, said in an interview with Interfax Ukraine on June 21.
"Then the question arises: why should we be afraid? Isn’t it better to go to the end?" Vladimir Putin said at a press conference at the end of his state visit to Vietnam.
Kyiv would consider participating in a Beijing-led peace conference with Russia's presence if the talks are based on the principles of the "U.N. Charter and international law," Ukraine's Ambassador to Singapore Kateryna Zelenko said in a media interview published on June 20.
More than half of the signatories came from Europe. When counting other key Western allies outside of Europe – the U.S., Canada, and Australia – the disparity is even more stark.
Ukraine’s peace summit wrapped up on June 16 at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland after two days of discussions on three major aspects of Ukraine’s 10-point peace plan: nuclear safety, food security, and prisoner swaps. Just over 90 countries, a handful of organizations, and one observer took part
The Swiss government intends to discuss the outcomes of the global peace summit with countries that have not attended, including Russia and China, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said on June 16.
Group of Seven (G7) leaders did not entertain Russian President Vladimir Putin's peace proposals for its war in Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during the Ukraine peace summit, the Guardian reported on June 16.
"In particular, we reaffirm our commitment to refraining from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state," the document says.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the talks "a glimmer of hope to start with" but said they "could have been more result-oriented" if Russia had attended.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the content of the unpublished 2022 peace terms already back in March, but the NYT published the 17-page draft in full, verified by participants in the talks.
"All parts of the world, all continents, different nations, both large and small geographically, and every political pole of our world—Latin America, the Middle East and Asia, Africa, Europe, the Pacific, Australia, North America—are all represented at the summit," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Participants of Ukraine's global peace summit will seek to formulate a new joint peace plan based on points in President Volodymyr Zelensky's peace formula, Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak said in an interview with the BBC on June 15.
Geng Shuang, China's deputy representative to the United Nations, called on Ukraine and Russia to "demonstrate political will" to end the war.
"What he's doing is a revival of Nazism," Zelensky said. "...He wants us to renounce our occupied territories but he also wants our unoccupied territories. He... doesn't intend to stop, and there will be no frozen conflict."
Speaking on the eve of the global peace summit in Switzerland on June 15-16, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukrainian troops must leave Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, and Kyiv must abandon any ambition to join NATO. Russia doesn't aim for peace, but for the continuation of the war, the occupation of Ukraine, and the destruction of Ukrainian people, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement.
On June 5, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Sun Weidong for political consultations, as reported by Ukraine's press service of the Foreign Ministry.
The Philippines and Singapore, which President Volodymyr Zelensky visited before the peace summit, will also attend the event.
Hungary respects Switzerland's efforts to achieve peace but doubts whether the summit makes sense if "there aren't both parties to the war" present, according to the minister.
Ukraine hopes the summit will address several key areas, such as energy security, the exchange of captives, the return of deported children, global food security, and other topics.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Guardian in an interview he believes such an approach would green light further attacks by Russia, “reducing to zero” the U.S.’s global influence.
If Russia is able to rebuild its forces during a pause in fighting, it will be able to become strong enough to issue ultimatums to Ukraine, such ceding territory, a pledge not to join alliances (such as NATO), or other undesirable conditions, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"At this moment, we already have about a hundred states and international organizations that will participate in the summit, but Russia is blackmailing some leaders and trying to block the participation of some countries," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to address delegates at the event on June 1, according to the news agency's undisclosed sources.
One source said China had insisted the summit should be recognised by both Russia and Ukraine and both countries should participate.
The Ukrainian president will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the monarchy's de facto ruler, and other senior officials during the visit to the port city of Jeddah, the source said.
South Africans will flock to the polls on May 29 for the country’s most important general election since the advent of its non-racial democracy in April 1994. According to most opinion polls, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, Africa’s oldest liberation movement, is expected to fall below
The EU is discussing how to progress from Ukranie's global peace summit in June to a possible meeting with Russian participation in Saudi Arabia in autumn, Bloomberg reported on May 27, citing undisclosed official sources.
