KUALA LUMPUR: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed to world leaders to support his country’s cause by participating in the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, which will be hosted by Switzerland.
In a video message to the world, Zelensky stands in front of a printing house in Kharkiv, recently destroyed by a Russian strike. With the charred remains of books behind him, he declares that Ukrainians do not want the United Nations (UN) Charter to be reduced to ashes, just like the burnt books.
He said the efforts of the global majority are the best guarantee that all commitments will be fulfilled.
Zelensky said 80 countries have already confirmed their participation in the Peace Summit, and called on the United States President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping to attend the summit.
“We continue to work with the leaders, inviting them to join the summit.
“And I am appealing to the leaders of the world who are still aside from the global efforts of the Global Peace Summit – to President Biden, the leader of the US, and President Xi, the leader of China”.
“Please, show your leadership in advancing peace – the real peace and not just a pause between the strikes,” he said in his video address.
He remarked that the summit will reveal who genuinely wants to end the war.
“?There is no nation that can stop such war alone, unaided – world leaders’ engagement is needed,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Summit on Peace in Ukraine will take place from June 15 to 16, 2024, at the Burgenstock Hotel above Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.
The conference aims to build on Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan, and other proposals based on the UN Charter.
So far, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have confirmed that they will be attending the conference.
Russia was not invited to the conference, and the Kremlin had voiced scepticism about its potential outcomes due to Moscow’s exclusion.
