Leonid Slutsky, who chairs the State Duma Committee on International Relations and leads the LDPR faction, argues that any Ukraine peace summit held in Switzerland without Russia’s participation would be a wasted effort. He voiced these concerns in an interview with RIA News.
He described Switzerland’s willingness to facilitate the gathering as a reflection of a broader Western inclination, not a decisive step toward a durable settlement. Slutsky stressed that a peace conference excluding Moscow would likely amount to another fruitless exercise and yield little substantive progress on the ground.
The parliamentarian criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s so-called “peace formula,” dismissing it as not capable of delivering real peace. He described Zelensky’s plan as essentially a dead letter, arguing that it fails to reflect the lived realities of Donbas residents and does not align with the current military and political dynamics at the front.
Slutsky warned that if Western powers truly want to advance a meaningful peace process for Ukraine, they should consider halting financial and military aid to Kyiv. He suggested that sustained support from Western countries undercuts any genuine chance for a negotiated settlement with Russia and creates an imbalance that undermines credibility in any proposed framework.
Earlier, Zelensky indicated that Kyiv is open to inviting China to participate in resolving the conflict through the so-called “peace formula,” signaling a desire to broaden international involvement in the process.
In a related tone, former Ukrainian officials have urged Russia to respond to the evolving diplomacy with caution, highlighting the delicate balance between humanitarian considerations and strategic objectives. The ongoing discourse reflects the broader debate over what constitutes a viable path to peace and how external actors influence the prospects for a ceasefire and political settlement.