On Monday, Ukraine's foreign minister said his country wants to hold a summit to end the war but did not expect Russia to participate, a statement that makes it difficult to expect the devastating invasion to end soon.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the Associated Press that his government wants a "peace" summit in two months' time at the United Nations with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as mediator.
Kuleba said Russia must face a war crimes tribunal before his country holds direct talks with Moscow. However, he said, other countries should feel free to engage with the Russians, as they did before the grain agreement between Turkey and Russia.
The AP interview offered a glimpse into Ukraine's vision of how the war with Russia could one day end, though any peace talks would be months away and hinge heavily on complex international negotiations.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned that last week that no Ukraine peace plan could succeed without taking into account "the realities of today that can’t be ignored" — a reference to Moscow's demand that Ukraine recognizes Russia's sovereignty over Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, as well as other territorial gains.
Kuleba noted that the Ukrainian government would like to hold a "peace" summit by the end of February.
“The United Nations could be the best venue for holding this summit because this is not about making a favour to a certain country," he said. “This is really about bringing everyone on board.”
Asked if they would invite Russia to the summit, he said Moscow would first need to be tried for war crimes in an international court.
"They can only be invited to the move in this way," Kuleba said.
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