Ukraine's foreign minister explains why Ukraine sees no point in inviting Russia to Peace Summit

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has explained that Ukraine currently sees no point in inviting Moscow to the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland, adding that contacts with Russia will still be necessary after the international community consolidates its position.

The host asked the Ukrainian official why it makes sense for Ukraine to hold the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland to bring the war to an end if the party that started the war is not present.

Kuleba noted in an interview with Foreign Policy that this is a logical question from the point of view of textbook approaches to diplomacy, but they will not work in the current circumstances.

"Our approach comes from reality and from the experience that we gained between 2014 and 2022... [Back then], we had almost 200 rounds of talks with Russia in different formats, with mediators and bilaterally. But nothing worked. It ended up in a large-scale invasion. So we know that it doesn't make sense to have Russia at the table if you cannot ensure that they sit at the table and act in good faith," the foreign minister said.

Kuleba noted that he saw only two ways to achieve a situation where the Kremlin would start to act in good faith.

"The first one is the success on the battlefield. The second is having a coalition of countries who share the same principles and the same approaches. So this is why the first summit does not intend to have Russia, because the goal of this summit is to unite countries who share principles and approaches that they will build their further actions on. And then communication with Russia may take place, and Russia can be part of [the] talks. Because you are right: in the end, you cannot put the war to an end without both parties," Dmytro Kuleba explained.

Poland's foreign minister believes that the war will end when Putin realises that he cannot win.