By Athena Papakosta

Kiev will hold peace talks with Russiaeven tomorrow, in the event that Moscow withdraws its forces from Ukrainian territory, emphasized the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at the end of the two-day work of the peace conference on Ukraine, which took place in Burgenstock, Switzerland.

The Ukrainian president, however, added that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, will not stop the war, stressing that it must be ended “either by military or diplomatic means.”

More than two years after Russia’s invasion, as he explained, the help of Ukraine’s Western allies was not enough for Kiev to win the war, but the conference proved that the international community’s support for his country has not weakened.

At the summit in Switzerland, almost 80 countries, international organizations, including the European institutions and the 27 EU Member States, agreed that Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity are the basis for any peace agreement.

Exceptions were Saudi Arabia, India, South Africa, Thailand, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates that did not sign the final declaration, while Brazil, which participated with observer status, was added to that list.

China did not attend, calling the international summit a waste of time. Nevertheless, Volodymyr Zelensky underlined that Beijing is not an enemy of Kiev, noting that “we respect China and its territorial integrity. We want China to do the same for us.”

The Summit in Switzerland focused on three of the total ten points of Zelensky’s proposal. It is about nuclear security, food security, the full exchange of prisoners of war and the return to Ukraine of thousands of children who were taken to Russia and the territories it controls.

“These were not peace negotiations because Vladimir Putin is not serious about ending the war,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, adding that the Russian president “insists on capitulation” and that “no country would ever accept these outrageous terms.”

Shortly before the start of the summit, Russia’s president – who was absent from the Burgenstock resort as he had not been invited – said his country was ready to start negotiations to end the war if Kiev withdrew its troops from the areas. of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia and abandon plans to join NATO.

Kiev responded that this is not a serious attempt to achieve peace and insists that Moscow withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory.