Denmark expects India, Brazil, China engagement in possible Ukraine peace summit

By Ebad Ahmed

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AA) – Denmark on Monday expressed its desire to host a summit in the coming months around the agenda of finding peace between Ukraine and Russia to stop the ongoing war but maintained that the meeting would require due engagement from India, Brazil and China.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said: "For starters, we need to put some effort into creating a global commitment to organize such a meeting."

He said the planned summit should not only host the Western allies, considered to be the strong partners and allies of Ukraine in the war.

"It is necessary to build interest and involvement from countries like India, Brazil and China," Rasmussen said, however he added that it is hard for him to see Russia participating in the summit.

The foreign minister left the convention of summit on the decision of Ukraine.

"If Ukraine finds that the time has come to have such a meeting, that would be fantastic and then Denmark would obviously like to host the meeting," he said.

Meanwhile, Denmark expressed its concern that Russia’s political, military and territorial ambitions pose a threat to Copenhagen’s sovereignty in its Foreign and Security Policy Strategy document issued last week. In the 15-page document, it was stated that Denmark should plan to strengthen its defense and security, and contribute to NATO's deterrence.

It also urged the country to support the EU’s neighbors to the east and in the Western Balkans.