Ukraine and its allies are planning a summit that would exclude Russia and is aimed at garnering support for Kyiv’s terms for ending the war, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The preliminary plans for the global meeting have strong support from European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron who has been lobbying for participation by countries that have either sided with Russia or have not taken a side in the war.
“We require a unified plan of the responsible civilized world that really wants to live in peace,” said Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, told the Journal.
Yermak added that direct negotiations with Russia were off the table as long as its troops occupied Ukraine.
European officials say they are working with Kyiv to restructure its peace plan to make it more acceptable to other global powers such as India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and China.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been vigorously promoting his 10-point peace plan for months. It includes restoring Ukraine’s control over all Russian-occupied territory, returning prisoners of war, prosecuting Russian war crimes, and restoring safety around Ukraine’s nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, the largest in Europe.
Even as he has been engaging with allies such as the Group of Seven (G-7) leaders and the European Union, Zelensky has also been reaching out to non-Westernized countries like China and Saudi Arabia.
European officials have told the Journal that Macron has offered to host Ukraine’s global peace summit in Paris, though Denmark and Sweden have also proposed hosting it.
