ROSTOV-ON-DON, June 16. /TASS/. The conference in Switzerland has nothing to do with achieving peace in Ukraine, but is a trial of Russia, member of the Russian Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian legislative assembly, Sergey Tsekov told TASS.
"This is not a conference to achieve peace in Ukraine. This conference is a trial of Russia, they convened it for this purpose. It is clear that they (the conference participants - TASS) are using this conference only to maintain their hegemony and influence in the world. They understand that they are losing it. This worries them much more than Ukraine itself. Moreover, they do not care at all about the lives of Ukrainian citizens," Tsekov said.
The senator noted that the countries participating in the conference know the statements that Russian President Vladimir Putin made on June 14 at a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry and they are discussing them. However, no decisions on this matter will be made within the framework of the conference, he believes.
"Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] clearly outlined Russia’s position at this stage. At the same time, he said: if you don’t want to, then there will be other demands, even more stringent," Tsekov added.
Earlier, Putin made new peace proposals to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, providing for the recognition of the status of Crimea, the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions as regions of Russia, consolidating the non-aligned and nuclear-free status of Ukraine, its demilitarization and denazification, and the abolition of anti-Russian sanctions. The office of Vladimir Zelensky rejected this initiative.
Conference in Switzerland
Switzerland is hosting a conference on Ukraine in the resort town of Burgenstock on June 15-16. Bern has invited more than 160 delegations, including from the G7, G20 and BRICS countries. However, the organizers announced ahead of the gathering that the delegations were not sent by all of them, as 91 countries, the Serbian province of Kosovo and eight international organizations are attending. Fifty-five countries have fielded their heads of state or government to take part. The collective West’s countries outnumber the others in Burgenstock, which leaves little hope for a balanced discussion.
Russia is not among those invited to this gathering. Most countries that are UN members have not sent their delegations. For example, China is not on the list of participants, whereas Brazil attends it as an observer. Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Egypt, Iran, China, Cuba, Egypt, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Syria, Ethiopia, and many other countries have not come.
The conference will address three issues, namely humanitarian issues, nuclear and food security. On June 14, the Swiss government specified that the countries can share their views on the prisoner exchange, the release of civilians and the repatriation of children. A joint statement is expected at the end of the forum.
On June 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the Foreign Ministry’s senior staff that it was impossible to find a peace solution to the Ukraine conflict without Russia’s participation and a frank dialogue. According to the Russian leader, it is obvious even now that the "truly fundamental issues" that underlie the current crisis of international security and stability as well as the real roots of the Ukraine conflict "are not going to be discussed in Switzerland, despite all the attempts to make the agenda of the conference more or less decent.".