BRUSSELS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday (Might 28) urged US chief Joe Biden to attend a June peace summit in Switzerland, as he accused Russia’s Vladimir Putin of attempting to derail the gathering.
Zelenskyy’s attraction got here as he locked in a dedication from Belgium to provide 30 F-16 fighter jets by 2028, on the newest leg of a whistlestop tour to rally Western help.
Ukraine is pushing to whip up attendance on the peace convention subsequent month the place it hopes to win broad worldwide backing for its imaginative and prescient of the phrases wanted to finish Russia’s conflict.
However the assembly threatens to be overshadowed if key Ukraine backer Biden – who’s locked in campaigning in opposition to Donald Trump and has given no signal he would take part – finally stays away.
“If (Biden) is just not current, it is going to be identical to applauding Putin: personally applauding and doing so standing,” Zelenskyy mentioned at a press convention alongside Belgium’s Alexander De Croo.
The Ukrainian chief mentioned that Putin was “very scared” of the peace summit and was attempting to derail the occasion set for Jun 15-16.
“He has been attempting to thwart this summit and continues to take action,” mentioned Zelenskyy, who has dominated out Russian participation within the gathering.
Moscow in the meantime dismissed the proposed peace summit with out Russia as “absurd”.
“The convention is, from our standpoint, fully hopeless by way of discovering some methods to resolve the battle round Ukraine,” mentioned Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
