By Deutsche Welle
May 26, 2024, 09:27 AM EDT
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his counterparts from the United States, Joe Biden, and China, Xi Jinping, on Sunday (05/25/2026) to attend a summit in Switzerland in June about the war in his country, invaded by Russia in February 2022. “I appeal to the leaders of the world (…) President Biden, leader of the United States, and President Xi, leader of China,” Zelensky said in a video message from Kharkiv.
“Please support the peace summit with your personal leadership and participation“Zelensky asked, stating that “the efforts of the global majority are the best guarantee that all commitments will be fulfilled.” “There is no nation that alone can stop this war, without help; the commitment of world leaders is needed,” Zelensky said, adding: “We all know who we are dealing with.”
The conference on the Ukrainian war will be held in the Swiss town of Lucerne on June 15 and 16. The Swiss government announced that it has invited 160 delegations, but Russia will not attend. Zelensky assured that “more than 80 countries have confirmed that they will attend.” The Ukrainian president made the call from Kharkiv, where yesterday a Russian missile hit a construction materials supermarket, initially killing six people, although today the death toll has increased to twelve, in addition to 43 injured, while another 16 people are missing.
The Ukrainian president also called on world leaders to increase their support for air defense, as he has been doing. Zelensky stated that “Russia is led by men who want to make it the norm to burn lives, destroy cities and towns, divide people and erase national borders through war.” He said he was in Kharkiv, “unfortunately, very close to the Russian border,” which means for the city “the third year of constant terror.”
The High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, asked the countries of the community club to donate more air defense equipment to Ukraine following Russia’s attack on a hypermarket in Kharkiv. The head of European diplomacy assured in a message last night that these “systematic Russian crimes against civilians and civil infrastructure” underline the need for “Europe to urgently increase support for the anti-aircraft defense” of the Kiev Army, because “it saves lives and protects to Ukrainian cities.”
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