Zelensky calls for a peace summit between Biden and Xi.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is eagerly preparing for a peace summit together with Switzerland this coming June. This event is expected to have at least eighty countries in attendance, and Zelenskyy is urging both Joe Biden and Xi Jinping to come along. He emphasizes the importance of this summit as a means to truly advance peace, not a mere halt in the fighting.
A message from Zelenskyy, recorded in the remains of a burnt-out printing house in Kharkiv, symbolizes the destruction and violence that has engulfed the city. This particular printing house, considered one of the largest in Ukraine, suffered a Russian rocket strike on Thursday, claiming the lives of seven individuals and injuring 23 more. Over 50,000 books were also lost in the flames.
Before the war, Faktor Druk printed 1.5 million books yearly - even providing services to international media sources like the German magazine "Katapult". Unfortunately, amongst the sacrifice were the very individuals who helped produce this journal, as they were killed or severely injured while trying to escape.
Zelenskyy paints a grim picture of life in Kharkiv, which has endured years of constant terror. He states that more than a million people reside in the city, continuously targeted by Russian artillery shelling. The striking target for these attacks is the S-300 surface-to-air missiles, lashed out to instill fear in the Ukrainian populace. Across the globe, these acts of terror are simply known as "terror."
Russian assaults on civilian areas have become the norm in Ukraine, especially in Kharkiv, one of the epicenters of the hostilities. Just a few days ago, at least eleven people tragically lost their lives in a direct hit from a Russian air raid on a hardware store.
Hoping to hold Russia accountable, Zelenskyy insists on holding the nation responsible for these actions. He questions if Russia truly desires a dialogue, assuming that their lies will be uncovered during negotiations and frequent ceasefires are just window dressings to cover up their preparations for a full-scale war. It is with this shared goal of maintaining peace that Zelenskyy urges the world's leaders to envision an end to the conflict.
So far, over eighty nations have confirmed their participation in the planned summit. Among them are the leaders of Germany, the United States, and China. This gathering in Lucerne on June 15th and 16th will not only showcase the support for Ukraine but also underline the desire to put a stop to this senseless violence once and for all.
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Source: www.ntv.de
