Will the next Peace Summit help end the war? Yermak shared details

Ukraine aims to hold the second Peace Summit, expected later this year, to pave the way for ending the hostilities.

This was stated by Andriy Yermak, Head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Administration, in an interview with Bloomberg.

Yermak has led Kyiv's efforts to organize the meeting to achieve a just peace settlement after the first meeting in Switzerland in June failed to attract key countries of the Global South.

Zelenskyy insists on convening the second summit before the U.S. elections in November, with the potential presence of Russia. These efforts come as Ukraine and its Western allies are concerned about the possible return of Donald Trump to the presidency amid growing fatigue and lack of significant breakthroughs on the battlefield.

"The most important expectation from the second summit is to form the basic prerequisites for ending the hostilities," Yermak told Bloomberg in an interview from his office in Kyiv on Wednesday. "We need to end this war as soon as possible to achieve a just peace."

Yermak said the gathering would take place in a Global South country, likely in the Middle East, to demonstrate the "unity of the world" amid Russia's attempts to divide it.

The previous peace summit held in Switzerland last June was overshadowed by Volodymyr Putin's demand that Ukraine surrender a significant portion of its territory as a precondition for peace, which Ukraine has repeatedly rejected. Russia was not invited to the meeting, and China refused to participate.

Despite Ukraine's efforts to focus on topics that could achieve broader consensus, such as nuclear security and the return of abducted children, the summit also failed to gain the support of key countries like China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

"For Ukraine, it is extremely important to ensure China's participation next time. The country is a "major player that can really influence Russia," Yermak said.

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