MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. Any peace talks on Ukraine that do not include Russia are pointless, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to a question about Switzerland's initiative to hold a conference on the so-called Ukrainian peace formula in June.
"First we need to understand what they are talking about there, what kind of a peace formula. That is the first thing. Second is that we have repeatedly said that, of course, the negotiation process without Russia is pointless and, in fact, it is a negotiation process with no purpose," the Kremlin spokesman said.
Peskov emphasized that Russia is open to talks on Ukraine, but seeing as how Kiev has banned itself from negotiating, Moscow does not see any prospects for this. "President [Vladimir] Putin has repeatedly emphasized that we remain open to the negotiating process, as we prefer solving problems this way, but in an environment where these negotiations have been banned by Ukraine itself, we don’t see the horizon ahead at this point," he added.
On Wednesday, Swiss President Viola Amherd said that Switzerland will hold a conference on the so-called Ukrainian peace formula in the Burgenstock region in June 2024.
The Swiss-hosted meeting on Ukraine will be a waste of time without Russia’s participation, the Russian Embassy in Bern told TASS.
"The meeting in Burgenstock, without Russia's presence, will likely result in yet another round of fruitless consultations that will be unable to yield any concrete results," the embassy said in comments on Switzerland’s decision to host the conference. "By organizing an event that obviously holds no promise for a real settlement of the conflict, the confederation’s government has again demonstrated that they are ready to take into account only the Ukrainian position."
According to the embassy, Switzerland did not invite Russia to the conference.