G7 leaders did not discuss Vladimir Putin’s proposals for peace in Ukraine because they all knew they were not serious, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said shortly before leaving for Switzerland, where a Ukraine conference opens on Saturday.
The German chancellor said Putin’s proposals – for Ukraine to abandon four provinces claimed by Russia, stop the war and drop its ambitions for NATO membership – were only meant to distract from the conference.
“Everyone knows that this proposal was not thought seriously, but it had to do with the peace conference in Switzerland,” he told ZDF television in an interview, Gazeta Express reports.
As world leaders gather for the summit, to which Russia was not invited, US Vice President Kamala Harris will stress that the outcome of the war affects the whole world and that Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected, an official said. american.
Harris will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and stand in for US President Joe Biden at the event. The president is returning to the US after attending the G7 in Italy to attend a fundraiser for his re-election campaign in Los Angeles.
The summit comes after G7 leaders reached a new deal on a €50 billion loan to Ukraine, secured by using interest earnings on Russian central bank assets frozen by the EU and other Western countries after the invasion of Ukraine in the year 2022.
