European states issue joint call for Russian involvement in Ukraine peace talks

Achieving a truce requires both sides of the conflict to be at the table, Italy and Switzerland have said

The foreign ministers of Italy and Switzerland have agreed to work together to lay the groundwork for a second ‘Ukraine peace summit’ which would include Russia, a joint statement published on both countries’ Foreign Ministry websites said on Monday.

The first summit hosted by Switzerland in June was mainly built around Kiev’s ‘peace formula’, which demanded that Russia withdraw its forces from all territory claimed by Ukraine. Moscow dismissed the plan as “detached from reality.”

The conference was snubbed by several countries, including China, which argued that the absence of Russia at the conference made any discussions pointless.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky said that while Russia was not invited to the first conference, the world majority wants Moscow at the table in November at the planned second event.

“Achieving peace requires the involvement of and dialogue between all parties,” the joint declaration by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis, said.

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Zelensky clinging on to ‘peace formula’

The ministers agreed to maintain contact and cooperation to create “the best possible conditions for a second peace summit involving all parties, including Russia, and all relevant global actors,” the declaration stated. 

The officials reiterated points from June’s peace conference, in which all parties involved in the conflict were urged to release all prisoners of war and ensure food and nuclear safety.

President Vladimir Putin has said that Ukraine’s recent incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region is an attempt for Kiev, “with the help of its Western masters,” to strengthen its negotiating position. “But how can we talk about negotiations with those who conduct indiscriminate strikes on civilians, civilian infrastructure, or try to threaten nuclear energy facilities?” Putin said at a top-level meeting on Monday.

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No talks with Kiev after attack on civilians – Putin

Kiev launched a large-scale cross-border incursion into the Russian region last week, the biggest attack of this kind since the beginning of the conflict. Two Ukrainian drone strikes damaged the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, damaging one of the cooling towers, Rosatom reported on Sunday evening.

The offensive into Russia territory was an attempt to divert attention away from Donbass, where Ukrainian forces have been losing ground to Russia for months, Putin said. By hitting Kursk Region, Kiev attempted to strike at the morale of the Russian population, he said, adding that the incursion has had the opposite effect, boosting recruiting for the army.