US V-P Harris to address Ukraine summit in Switzerland, meet Zelensky

WASHINGTON - US Vice-President Kamala Harris will attend the international Ukraine summit in Switzerland this weekend, where she will meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and address world leaders.

She will stress that the outcome of the war with Russia affects the entire world, a US official said, and push for a maximum number of countries to back the notion that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine is a violation of the UN Charter’s founding principles, and that Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected.

Ms Harris, who will spend less than 24 hours at the gathering in Lucerne, Switzerland, will be standing in for US President Joe Biden at the event.

The president will be just ending his participation at the Group of Seven (G-7) summit in Italy and

returning to the US to attend a fund-raiser

for his re-election campaign in Los Angeles.

Ms Harris will meet Mr Zelensky and address the summit’s plenary session.

Mr Biden met Mr Zelensky both at the G-7 summit, where they signed a

US-Ukraine bilateral security agreement

, and in France for events surrounding the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

Ms Harris was to depart for Switzerland on the night of June 14 and arrive at midday on June 15, and will spend several hours at the event before flying back to Washington.

Then, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will represent the US at the summit on June 16 and help establish working groups on returning Ukrainian children from Russia and energy security.

Russia was not invited to the event and has dismissed it as futile.

China, a key Russian ally, says

it will not attend the conference

because it does not meet Beijing’s requirements, including the participation of Russia.

The senior US official said Russia’s absence would not affect the summit, but expressed regret at Beijing’s decision.

“We wish the Chinese were showing up themselves,” the official said. “They claim to be strong supporters of sovereignty and territorial integrity and these principles and they are allowing a country that they are supporting all too much, Russia, to violate these principles.”

Ninety-two countries and eight organisations plan to attend.

“It is up to Ukraine’s leaders to decide how and on what terms this war could end. Our job, what we’ve been trying to do, is put them in a better position on the battlefield for any eventual negotiation,” the official told reporters.

The US has

contributed billions of dollars in weaponry to help Ukraine

fight the war prosecuted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, although the latest massive package of aid from Washington was delayed for months by disagreements in Congress. REUTERS