Ukraine is looking forward to holding a global peace summit this year

Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mykola Tochitsky said on Sunday that his country seeks to hold a global peace summit this year, after international representatives met in Malta at the weekend to discuss the peace formula proposed by Kiev for its war with Russia.
“This goal remains necessary and possible,” Tuchitsky told Reuters by phone shortly after the end of the meeting.
“It has become clear that there is interest in this,” he added that heads of state and government will attend the summit.
Kiev said that the Malta meeting on Saturday and Sunday was attended in person or online by representatives from 66 countries, an increase of more than 20 countries compared to a previous meeting on the same topic in the Saudi city of Jeddah, which Russia didn’t participate in the talks last August.
Tuchitsky said that the Malta meeting discussed five points from a formula put forward by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last year, namely nuclear safety, food security, energy security, release of prisoners and deportees, and territorial integrity.
The deputy minister said that Ukraine’s efforts to win over the countries of the Global South weren’t affected by the different positions on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, although this may make it more difficult to highlight Ukraine.
He asked, “Do military events in other parts of the world make it more difficult? Of course, it can, but this is further evidence of the importance of President Zelensky’s formula, because it’s about peace”.
Ukraine has been seeking for months to build relations with the governments of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, but has found that its support for Israel conflicts with the positions of some of those countries.
Tuchitsky added that China didn’t attend the Malta meeting despite efforts made by Ukraine to persuade Beijing to send a representative.
“The reasons are unknown to me… As I recall, the Chinese representative Li Hui in Jeddah said he intended to attend,” he said.