FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agree that Russia should be included in a future peace conference aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. He called for intensified efforts to resolve the conflict.
An earlier peace conference on June 15-16 in Switzerland ended with 78 countries expressing support for Ukraine’s “territorial integrity,” but otherwise left the way forward unclear. Russia did not participate.
“I think now is the moment when we have to discuss how to get out of this war situation faster than the current impression,” Scholz said in an interview with German ZDF public television broadcast on Sunday.
“There will certainly be another peace conference, and the president and I agree that it must be one with Russia present,” Scholz said.
Scholz faces more political discontent at home over his government’s support, including money and weapons, for Ukraine after populist parties opposed to arming Ukraine fared well in state elections on September 1 at the expense of parties in his three-party ruling coalition. Some members of his Social Democratic Party have also called for more emphasis on diplomacy towards Russia.
Zelenskyy has presented a 10-point peace formula that calls for the expulsion of all Russian forces from Ukrainian territory and accountability for war crimes.