Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Monday that his country wants to hold a peace summit at the United Nations by the end of February, but that Russia must first face a war crimes tribunal in an international court.
“Every war ends diplomatically. All war ends as a result of actions taken on the battlefield and at the negotiating table,” Kuleba told the Associated Press on Monday.
“The United Nations might be the best place to hold this summit because it’s not about doing a particular country a favour.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres could serve as a mediator at a possible peace summit, Kuleba said.
Two people walk past an industrial building that was struck by missiles as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continued during heavy shelling in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on December 25, 2022.
(Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented a 10-point peace plan at the G20 summit last month, including the release of all prisoners of war, the withdrawal of Russian forces and a cessation of hostilities, nuclear security and the “establishment of the Special Court on Russia’s crime of aggression.”
Kuleba said on Monday that Russia “can only be invited to this step in this way,” referring to a war crimes tribunal.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with state television on Sunday that Moscow wants to negotiate, but Kyiv has refused peace talks.
“We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved on acceptable solutions, but that is up to them. It is not us who refuse to negotiate, it is them,” Putin said in the interview.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, arrives to speak during a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on December 21, 2022.
(Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends the Victory Day military parade marking the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2022.
(Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via AP)
Zelenskyy tweeted on Monday that he discussed the “peace formula” with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has sought to build a stronger partnership with Russia in recent months.
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The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council, concluded in October that “a series of war crimes, violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have been committed in Ukraine.”
Firefighters help a woman evacuate a residential building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, which local authorities say was an Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicle, in Kyiv, Ukraine.
(Reuters/Vladyslav Musiienko/File)
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The commission found that Russian forces are responsible for the “vast majority” of the violations, but that Ukrainian troops “have also committed violations of international humanitarian law in some cases.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.
