Switzerland says new summit on Ukrainian conflict being prepared

Switzerland is actively continuing preparations for the next summit on the Ukrainian conflict. This was stated by the country's Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on December 16.

"Intensive work [to organize the conference] with Moscow, Washington, as well as with the G7 countries and the EU continues," the Le Temps newspaper quoted him as saying.

He also added that Switzerland remains "cautiously optimistic" about finding solutions to the Ukrainian issue because of the signals coming from the US and the future administration of the country's president-elect Donald Trump.

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On December 13, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg allowed the conflict in Ukraine to end in the coming months. According to him, the US president-elect is capable of decisive action on conflict resolution.

On December 4, the WSJ newspaper, citing a source, reported that the Ukrainian side is ready to start negotiations on a sustainable peace with Russia. The piece noted that "conflict-weary Ukraine" is ready for a ceasefire if it is allowed to join NATO.

In mid-June, the first summit on Ukraine was held in Bürgenstock, Switzerland. The Russian Federation was not invited to participate in it. More than a dozen countries refused to sign the final document of the meeting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin named the conditions for negotiations on Ukraine at a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry on June 14. Thus, Ukrainian troops should leave the territories of the new regions of the Russian Federation, and Kiev should give up the idea of NATO integration.

The last round of negotiations took place in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. They lasted about three hours. Later, Kiev officially refused contacts with Moscow. On October 4 of the same year, the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on the impossibility of holding talks with Putin was put into effect.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.