Ukraine claims Russia trying to influence countries of Global South not to attend peace summit

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba claimed on Monday that Russia is trying to influence countries of the Global South not to participate in the Ukraine peace summit scheduled to be held in Switzerland on June 15-16.

“The stronger the opposition, the more important the initiative. If the peace summit was a temporary event, we probably wouldn't have seen such systematic work around the world (by Russia) ... Where is this subversive work being conducted? Mainly in Asia, Africa, and South America,” Kuleba said at a joint press conference with his Estonian counterpart Margus Tsahkna in the capital Kyiv.

Arguing that Russia is using three types of methods to disrupt the upcoming Ukraine peace summit, Kuleba said the first of these methods is to discredit the summit by sending letters, making public statements, and holding closed meetings.

According to him, the second method used by Russia is trying to convince individual countries not to participate in the summit at all, while the third is to convince countries that have confirmed their participation in the summit to attend at the lowest possible level.

“But from what we've heard, more than a hundred countries have already confirmed their participation, so you can see that this effort is ineffective,” Kuleba went on to say.

He also argued that actions to undermine the summit are “systematic and unprecedentedly large-scale,” which he said “confirms that we are doing everything right, that we are on the right path.”

“Together with our partners, we will create a precedent when the Peace Summit will be convened not on the terms of the aggressor country or on the terms of the mediating country, but on the terms of the UN Charter,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that 106 countries have confirmed their participation in the Ukraine peace summit, which will take place on June 15-16 at the five-star Burgenstock Hotel above Lake Lucerne.