Selensky’s travel diplomacy ahead of peace summit – The night at a glance
Published: Sunday, Jun 2nd 2024, 05:20
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At the Security Forum in Singapore, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi called for the participation of South-East Asian states in the peace summit in Switzerland. He had met with the incoming President of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, as well as with the head of state of East Timor, José Ramos-Horta, to discuss participation in the peace conference, Selensky announced on his Telegram channel on Saturday.
Selenskyj thanked Ramos-Horta for his promise to personally attend the summit on June 15/16. He also hoped for Indonesia's participation at the highest level, he wrote. A meeting with Singapore's President Tharman Shanmugaratnam is also planned.
The main purpose of Zelensky's trip is to mobilize support for Ukraine in South-East Asia. The country, which has been hit by a Russian war of aggression for more than two years, is hoping that as many countries as possible from around the world will take part in the peace conference in Switzerland. In this way, Kiev hopes to increase the pressure on Russia in order to force Moscow to make concessions.
Italy: Selensky also takes part in G7 summit
According to the Italian government, Selenskyj will therefore also be attending the G7 summit in just under two weeks' time. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni confirmed corresponding media reports to the German Press Agency. It remains unclear whether Zelensky is expected in person in Apulia or will be connected via video.
In recent months, Zelensky has repeatedly traveled in person to top-level meetings to campaign for more support for his country in the fight against Russian aggressors or to conclude security agreements with other states. Last year, he traveled to the meeting of the heads of state and government of the seven major Western industrial nations in Hiroshima, Japan. However, his personal participation only became known shortly before the start of the summit. Other trips were also only confirmed after his arrival.
The group of seven consists of the USA, Canada, Japan, Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany. Meloni is chairing this year's summit. The summit will take place from June 13 to 15 in a luxury hotel in the southern Italian region of Apulia.
Orban praises right-wing parties in Europe as peacemakers
Meanwhile, in the European election campaign, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban praised right-wing parties as the ones that could bring about an early end to the Russian war against Ukraine. With the rise of right-wing and right-wing populist parties in Europe and the possible victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election, these forces would create a "transatlantic peace coalition", said the right-wing populist at an election event in front of more than 10,000 supporters in Budapest on Saturday.
The head of government in office since 2010 has made Hungary the most Moscow-friendly country in the EU. Time and again, he has used veto threats to prevent or water down EU sanctions against the belligerent Russia. Hungary is therefore largely isolated in the EU.
Ukraine: Hydropower plant on the Dnipro in "critical condition"
At the same time, Russia is causing further devastation in Ukraine every day. According to the authorities, the hydroelectric power plant on a Dnipro reservoir near Zaporizhia, which was damaged in a Russian missile attack, is now in "critical condition". Specialists have to investigate the safety of the associated dam, said the military governor of Zaporizhia, Ivan Fedorov, on Ukrainian television. "At the moment, traffic from the left bank to the right bank is completely blocked, so traffic is restricted for local residents."
The power plant has been the target of Russian fire several times in recent months. A fire broke out during a massive missile attack at the end of March. The power plant was badly damaged and had to be shut down for a while. On Saturday night, missiles hit the plant again. The dam was then temporarily closed to traffic.
This will be important on Sunday
Zelensky will appear at the Security Forum in Singapore. He is expected to once again promote his "peace formula" there, which envisages Russia withdrawing from all occupied territories in Ukraine.
©Keystone/SDA
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