Kyiv's ambassador criticizes upcoming Vienna summit for peace in Ukraine

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) - Ukraine's ambassador to Austria has criticized the International Summit for Peace in Ukraine, which will take place this weekend in Vienna.

"This conference raises severe doubts about whether those involved were working on a just and lasting peace in Ukraine," Vasyl Khymynets wrote in a statement quoted on Monday by the Austrian news agency APA.

"There is a clear absence in present papers of the conference that a sustainable and comprehensive peace is possible only following international law and the liberation of all Russian-occupied territories," he said in a statement ahead of the event.

He was referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's 10-point plan, of which the first article is about the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine.

Khymynets also expressed his irritation with the opening message to the conference from Austrian President Heinz Fischer, who has a warm relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Non-governmental organizations will host the summit, and the organizers will publish a Vienna declaration for peace. The declaration will call on politicians to hold talks for cease-fire negotiations in Ukraine.

According to the organizers, "prominent international speakers" will highlight the escalation of the war and call for a "reversal toward a peace process" during the conference on June 10 and 11.