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Russia not invited to Ukraine conference 'at this stage' — Swiss MFA

It is reported that Switzerland is convinced that Russia must be involved in this process as "a peace process without Russia is unthinkable"

GENEVA, May 2. /TASS/. Russia has not been invited to the Ukraine conference to be held on June 15-16 at the Burgenstock resort 'at this stage,’ Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) said.

"Russia has not been invited [to the meeting] at the moment. Switzerland has always shown openness to extending an invitation to Russia for this summit. However, Russia has said repeatedly and also publicly that it has no interest in participating in this first summit," the department said in a statement, adding that Switzerland is convinced that Russia must be involved in this process as "a peace process without Russia is unthinkable."

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Ukraine talks without Russia's participation not aimed at result — Kremlin

The FDFA also said that the country has invited over 160 delegations "at the level of heads of state and government" to the summit. It said that these are representatives of "about 120 countries," including the G7, the G20, BRICS, the European Union, and a number of international organizations, notably the UN, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europ. Invitations have also been extended to the Vatican and the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Swiss President Viola Amherd said after a January 15 meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelenskyy that he had asked her country to host a summit on the so-called peace formula.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on April 12 that holding a conference on Ukraine in Switzerland would be a "road leading nowhere." According to him, Moscow does not see the West's willingness to do business in a fair way. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, pointed out that Russia has never rejected a peaceful solution in Ukraine and called the settlement conference organized in Switzerland without Moscow "a kind of panopticon."

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