Bloomberg: EU wants to follow up peace summit with conference with Russia in autumn, sources say
The EU is discussing how to progress from Ukraine'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.
Bloomberg's sources did not provide further details on the supposed plans.
The summit will take place on June 15-16 in Switzerland, and some 80 countries have already confirmed their participation.
The conference will be centered around Ukraine's 10-point peace formula, a plan first outlined by President Volodymyr Zelensky in fall 2022 that calls for a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied Ukrainian lands.
Russia was not invited to the talks, but the Swiss hosts said that Moscow's representation will have to take part in the process "sooner or later." Kyiv has warned that Russia is attempting to disrupt the summit.
The outlet wrote that EU foreign ministers will discuss how to achieve a "face-saving" outcome from the summit during their meeting in Brussels on May 27.
Bloomberg wrote earlier that U.S. President Joe Biden is likely to miss the conference as it clashes with a campaign fundraiser, while China has not yet officially confirmed its attendance.
According to the outlet, China may send a senior civil servant to Switzerland.
On May 26, Zelensky called on Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping to "show their leadership in advancing the peace" and participate personally in the upcoming summit.
Read also: Kuleba: Putin wants to derail Ukraine’s peace summit by claiming ‘readiness for ceasefire’
We’ve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
