SINGAPORE, June 2( Reuters)- Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky said in an interview at the Shangri- La Dialogue on Sunday that diplomacy- in the form of a peace peak afterward this month – was the best way to end a “brutal war” that has claimed thousands of lives . his country from 2022.
In an address to a security conference in Singapore, Zelensky said 106 countries and organizations had signed up to the peace summit in Switzerland, but noted that it was disappointing that some world leaders had yet to offer their support. According to him, Russia tried to hinder peace efforts.
” We’re convinced that our world wants to be united and suitable to act in whole harmony,” Zelenskyy said.
He later told a news conference that he was unable to meet the Chinese delegation at the conference and was disappointed that Beijing would not attend the summit.
“Unfortunately, China… is working to prevent countries from coming to the peace summit,” he said.
In an address to delegates on Sunday, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun said his country was careful not to support either Russia or Ukraine.
“Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, China has promoted peace talks with a responsible attitude,” Dong said. ” We’ve noway supplied munitions to any of the parties to the conflict. We have established strict controls on the export of dual-use goods and have never done anything to fuel the fire. We firmly stand on the side of peace and dialogue.”
Zelensky thanked the countries, in particular the USA, Germany and the Netherlands, for military assistance, in particular air defense systems. Zelensky cited the example of Russia’s attack on Sunday with nearly 100 missiles – something he said had happened hundreds of times – and noted that “no country can handle this alone”.
He later said that while he was grateful to the US for allowing Kyiv to use US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS) to shell the Russian border in the Kharkiv region, it was not enough.
According to him, Russia uses many airfields to attack Ukraine, “knowing that Ukraine will not shoot back, because it does not have response systems and authorizations.”
On Sunday, Zelenskyi and his Defense Minister Rustem Umerov held more than an hour of talks with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of the conference before his speech.
Austin briefed Zelensky on Washington’s military assistance to Kyiv and “reaffirmed the US commitment to maintain strong support” during the meeting, a Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
“The leaders of the two countries promised to further strengthen the strategic defense partnership between the United States and Ukraine,” said a Pentagon representative.
On the X social network platform, Zelenskyi reported that he also met with the newly elected President of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto; the delegation of the US Congress; and the President of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramouche-Horta.
According to him, Ramos-Horta agreed to participate in the peace summit scheduled for mid-June in Switzerland. At last year’s Shangri-La dialogue, Prabowo proposed an Indonesian plan to end the war in Ukraine.
The Shangri- La Dialogue, organized by the London- grounded International Institute for Strategic Studies, concludes on Sunday.
Russia has not participated in a security summit in Singapore since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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