Zelensky Suddenly Reverses, Says Russia Should Attend 2nd Ukraine Summit

With much of the globe’s eyes and international press focused on the US domestic political situation in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has just made an unprecedented announcement.

He said Monday that a second Ukraine peace summit should include Russian representation. It is a remarkable development that he so much as stated the possibility, even if it doesn’t actually materialize, given he’s long been vehemently against any level of negotiations with Moscow so long as Putin is still in power.

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“I believe that Russian representatives should be at the second summit,” Zelensky told a press conference in Kiev, and outlined preparatory work for another summit.

The first “Summit on Peace in Ukraine at the Bürgenstock” in Switzerland in mid-June importantly did not have either Russian or Chinese participation. While Beijing had been invited, Russia was not, and the Chinese government cited this as a reason it found the whole endeavor futile.

Ukraine has long voiced that China will be key to any peace equation, given that it has sway with Moscow. Leaders from over 90 countries had gathered for the Swiss summit, which endorsed Ukraine’s own peace plan.

But Ukraine’s peace formula has remained a non-starter from the Kremlin’s point of view, given it requires the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine territory.

But Moscow has emphasized it will never give up the four territories which have been absorbed into the Russian Federation: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

With this overture, Zelensky could be anticipating that it will be Trump in the White House after the November election. Trump has been vocal on the campaign trail about getting the warring sides to the negotiating table. While Trump’s team has of late touted a comprehensive peace plan, no one has actually seen it in full. 

Meanwhile, Trump has at least one European supporter who is enthusiastic. Hungary’s Viktor Orban has said that a Trump administration provides an opening for peace.

And days ago, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in an interview, “I think a very strong external impact must take place in order to make them negotiate at least.” He added: “Who has the chance for that in the upcoming period? That’s only President Trump if he is elected.”