Kiev wants next peace summit to take place in ‘global south’

Ukraine’s president’s office announced on Tuesday that he wants the next peace summit aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine to take place in one of the countries of the Global South, AFP reported.

In June, leaders and senior officials from more than 90 countries gathered in Switzerland for the first summit organized by Ukraine, but Russia and China did not attend.

“We hope that the second summit will be held in one of the countries of the Global South,” Andriy Jermak, head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, told the Kyiv forum.

The term “Global South” refers to several countries and blocs outside Europe and North America whose foreign policy interests do not neatly align with those of Kiev or Moscow.

Russia was excluded from the first summit, but Ukraine has expressed hope that Moscow would be able to attend a second round of talks. “If Russian representatives want to attend the second summit, they will definitely come,” Zelensky said on Tuesday.

However, any diplomatic breakthrough seems elusive, with the Kremlin declaring “no dialogue with Ukraine” following the latter’s counter-offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.

Even before the invasion, the Kremlin insisted that any peace deal would have to force Kiev to give up territory that Moscow considers its own, an unacceptable condition for Ukraine.

The announcement by Kyiv came days after a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who gave a pro-peace speech in Kyiv.

“Modi has made it clear that India will never support any plan, any proposal that involves compromising Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” Jermak said. India believes Moscow should make diplomatic efforts.

Earlier, Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow and “stressed his interest in contributing to a political and diplomatic solution to the situation around Ukraine,” the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Besides Modi, Zelensky also met with several leaders of southern hemisphere countries, including President Cyril Ramaphosa of the Republic of South Africa.

He still meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has become a key political and economic partner for Moscow since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.