Presidential aide says Ukraine ready to host second peace summit soon

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine is ready to host a second global summit aimed at ending Russia’s invasion in the “nearest future”, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Thursday, local media outlets reported.

Ukraine held its first “peace summit” in Switzerland in June, bringing together over 90 countries to draft a resolution based on Ukraine’s proposed conditions to end the war.

However Russia was not invited to that summit and dismissed its deliberations as meaningless without Moscow’s participation. It has also said it would not take part in any follow-up summit organised by Ukraine.

“Thanks to active work with our partners, a joint peace framework has already been developed, which will become the basis for the Second Peace Summit, and Ukraine is ready to hold it in the near future,” Yermak told a conference, according to Ukrainian media.

China also stayed away from the June summit, while other major non-Western powers including India, Saudi Arabia and Mexico withheld their signatures from the summit communique, underlining the diplomatic challenge Kyiv faces in marshalling broader global support for its cause beyond its Western allies.

Yermak’s comments came as Russian forces continue to make steady territorial gains in eastern Ukraine while also pounding energy infrastructure in Ukrainian cities and towns.

Kyiv and its European allies are also waiting to see how U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will handle the Ukraine issue. He has criticised the scale of U.S. financial and military support for Ukraine and has said he could end the war in a day, without saying how.

(Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Gareth Jones)

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