US Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Switzerland to participate in the Peace Summit, the White House website reports.
During the visit, she will emphasise the US administration's commitment to supporting Kyiv's efforts to secure a just and lasting peace based on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and the principles of the UN Charter.
Harris will also reaffirm Washington's support for the Ukrainian people in their fight against Russian aggression.
In addition to Kamala Harris, the United States will be represented at the summit by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that US President Joe Biden would skip the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland. According to sources, the head of state will fly to Italy to attend a meeting of G7 leaders, but will immediately head to Los Angeles to attend a fundraiser for his election campaign.
Leaders of more than 160 countries have been invited to attend the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. In particular, the heads of several G7 countries are expected to attend: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian and Japanese Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau and Fumio Kishida.
Russia was not invited to the summit. Volodymyr Zelenskyy explained this by fearing that the Russian side would ‘block everything, disrupt everything’. Moscow will be involved in the discussion at the next stage, when world leaders will work out the basic principles of the peace agreement, the President of Ukraine said.
Zelenskyy also commented on reports of Biden's reluctance to attend the peace summit in Switzerland. ‘The Peace Summit needs President Biden and other leaders who are looking at the US response need him. His absence will be applauded by Putin, and he will give a standing ovation,’ he said.
In addition, the Ukrainian president accused China of helping Russia disrupt the peace summit.
‘Russia, using Chinese influence in the region, also using Chinese diplomats, is doing everything to disrupt the peace summit,’ Zelenskyy said during a press conference in Singapore. He added that Moscow is threatening many countries with a blockade of agricultural goods, food, threatening to raise energy prices and demanding that many states refuse to attend the event.