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Ukraine war: Kremlin says peace talks that do not include Russia ‘make no sense’

  • Russia is not taking part in the high-level international peace conference for Ukraine on June 15-16
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin mocked the conference: ‘It would be funny if it were not sad’

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Portraits of Russian service members killed in the Ukraine conflict. Photo: Reuters

The Kremlin on Thursday said that Ukraine peace talks due to be held in Switzerland in June made “no sense” unless Russia took part.

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Switzerland on Wednesday announced that a high-level conference on the Ukraine conflict would be held on June 15-16, but without Russia.

Ukraine and up to 100 countries would attend the conference at the luxury Burgenstock resort near the central city of Lucerne, hosted by Swiss President Viola Amherd.

“We said many times that the process of (peace) talks without Russia makes no sense,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Russian President Vladimir Putin mocked the conference, saying during a meeting with his Belarusian ally and counterpart Alexander Lukashenko that “it would be funny if it were not sad”.

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Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said any action on Ukraine that “ignores Russia’s position” was “detached from reality” and had “no perspective”.

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