Ukraine and Its Western Backers Plan ‘Peace Summit’ Without Russia

Kyiv wants to convince neutral countries to favor its terms for a settlement, which includes a complete Russian withdrawal and war crimes tribunals

Ukraine and its Western backers are planning to hold an international summit to increase support for Kyiv’s terms for a settlement to the conflict with Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

While being sold as a peace summit, the plan does not involve inviting Russians. Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, reiterated Kyiv’s position that it won’t hold talks with Moscow unless Russia withdraws from all the territory it has captured, a position that is a non-starter for negotiations.

European officials told the Journal that they want to work with Kyiv to recraft its 10-point peace plan to make it more appealing to neutral countries, including China, India, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia. The plan calls for a complete Russian withdrawal and tribunals for alleged Russian war crimes.

For their part, Moscow has said it’s open to talks but insists any final settlement must recognize the four Ukrainian oblasts it has annexed as Russian territory, demonstrating how far apart the two sides are. Moscow’s other main demand is Ukrainian neutrality, but NATO has long-term plans to keep supporting Kyiv’s military and is expected to make more concrete commitments at an upcoming summit in July.

Western diplomats said they hope the Ukraine peace plan meeting can happen before the NATO summit, which will begin on July 11 in Vilnius, Lithuania. They expect President Biden and other leaders of NATO countries to attend. Western officials are hopeful they can get Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman but aren’t sure about Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.