Top Swiss diplomat calls for including Russia into peace discussions on Ukraine

Ignazio Cassis

GENEVA, January 14. /TASS/: Russia should be included into the process of peace settlement in Ukraine, Swiss Federal Councillor for Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis said.

"We should find a way to bring Russia into peace discussions. There will be no peace if Russia cannot have its say," he told a news conference at the World Economic forum in Davos.

According to the top Swiss diplomat, delegates from 83 countries are taking part in a meeting of national security advisers on the Ukrainian "peace formula" which is being held in Davos at the initiative of Switzerland and Ukraine on January 14.

Three meetings on the "peace formula" were held in 2023. The latest one took place in Malta on October 28-29, 2023.

Addressing the Group of Twenty summit in November, 2022, Zelensky said that Kiev had a "plan to achieve peace" consisting of ten points. Among them are nuclear, food and energy security, and an "all-for-all" exchange of "detainees," as well as the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity. The plan however totally ignores Moscow’s position.

Meanwhile, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Zelensky’s statements about a peaceful settlement were out of touch with reality. Moscow sees no progress in the settlement process around Ukraine and that is why it is continuing its military operation.