Russia declines participation in the second Peace Summit: response from the Ukrainian Parliament

Russia has announced it will not participate in the second Peace Summit, claiming the event has an "ultimatum-like" rhetoric. Officials in Kyiv interpret this decision as a sign that Russia is not ready for negotiations.

This was stated by Oleksandr Merezhko, Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy and a member of the "Servant of the People" party, in a comment to LIGA.net.

"Russia's refusal to participate in the summit is another indication that it is not interested in peace and adherence to international law," Merezhko said.

According to him, Moscow is not ready for dialogue because the Kremlin still harbors illusions about winning the war against Ukraine. Merezhko believes that only China could force Russian "führer" Volodymir Putin to reconsider negotiations. However, Beijing is unwilling to do so.

"Putin may sit at the negotiating table when he starts feeling more acutely that he is losing both on the battlefield and politically, meaning when he feels his isolation deepening. For him, negotiations might only be valuable as a means to save himself... For now, he remains under certain illusions. He hopes that favorable changes for him will occur in the White House. But that is just an illusion," Merezhko noted.

The MP emphasized that if Putin were to agree to negotiations, they would likely take place bilaterally or with the involvement of several powerful mediators.

Russia's statement on the Peace Summit

According to the statement by deputy Russian foreign minister Mykhailo Galuzin, Russia will not participate in the new Peace Summit due to the event's "ultimatum-like" rhetoric, which allegedly ignores "other initiatives for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict."

According to him, Moscow views Kyiv's and the West's plans for the new summit as an "attempt to rehabilitate themselves after the failure in Switzerland." Galuzin claims that they "understand" the content of the event — considering "Zelenskyy's formula."

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