Zelensky appeals to Biden and Xi to join Swiss peace talks

KHARKIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday appealed to his US counterpart Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping to participate in a planned peace summit in Switzerland in June.

“We do not want the UN Charter to be burnt down just like these books, and I hope you don’t want to either,” said Zelensky against the backdrop of a printing plant destroyed by a Russian missile attack in the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

“The efforts of the global majority are the best guarantee that all commitments will be fulfilled. Please, support the peace summit with your personal leadership and participation,” Zelensky added, addressing Biden and Xi directly in English in a video posted on the social media platform Telegram.

Switzerland has invited around 160 countries to a peace summit on June 15-16 to discuss possible ways to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine. Russia, which invaded Ukraine more than two years ago, has not received an invitation.

According to Zelensky, Moscow is currently preparing another attack in northern Ukraine after a recent offensive near the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

Military experts say another Russian offensive in the northern Sumy region is possible. Russia’s aim could be to exploit its manpower and material superiority, overstretch the Ukrainian defence lines and thus achieve the collapse of the Ukrainian front line.

Kharkiv, which lies only 30 kilometres from the Russian border, has been one of the worst-hit cities in Moscow’s bombing campaign since its invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.