Ukraine to open embassy in Philippines; why Saudi Arabia-China turned away from summit in Switzerland

On June 3, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country will open an embassy in the Philippine capital Manila this year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and his Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met in Manila on June 3. (Source: Reuters)

Reuters news agency reported that this information was given by President Zelensky during a bilateral meeting with his Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila.

Mr. Zelensky arrived in the Philippines after making a surprise appearance at the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. This is his second visit to Asia since Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine in 2022.

Regarding the peace conference on Ukraine, scheduled to take place in mid-June in Switzerland, on June 2, DPA news agency quoted diplomatic sources in Riyadh as saying that Saudi Arabia will not participate in this event because there are no delegates from Russia.

According to the source, President Zelensky wanted to visit Saudi Arabia on June 1 to call for support for the peace conference, but the visit was postponed. So far, Riyadh has not officially confirmed this information.

On the Chinese side, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said that the country will not attend the conference.

According to China, an international peace conference must be held with three important elements: representatives of both Russia and Ukraine must be present, the participation of all parties must be equal, and any peace plan must be considered fairly.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia would not insist on being invited to the conference if it was not welcomed.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry previously said it had invited more than 160 delegations from the Group of Seven (G7), the Group of Twenty (G20) and the BRICS to the conference, but did not invite Russia.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ukraine-se-mo-dai-su-quan-o-philippines-ly-do-khien-saudi-arabia-trung-quoc-quay-lung-voi-hoi-nghi-thuong-dinh-o-thuy-sy-273592.html