Top stories from the Russian press on Monday, June 3rd

© REUTERS/ Denis Balibouse

MOSCOW, June 3. /TASS/. Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland not making headway as hoped; OPEC+ extends oil production cuts; and Russia climbs to 4th place in global GDP rankings. These stories topped Monday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

Izvestia: Majority of global leaders to snub Ukraine conference in Switzerland, dealing blow to Kiev

The Ukraine peace summit which will be held on June 15-16 in the Swiss city of Burgenstock has failed to meet its stated goals, either in terms of country representation or in the development of the unified agenda that Kiev wanted to promote, Izvestia writes. Instead of focusing on how to build the negotiation process, Ukraine is preoccupied with its own self-interests. Meanwhile, Switzerland, the summit’s host, has lost all neutrality, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador at Large Rodion Miroshnik told the newspaper.

“By joining the unilateral anti-Russian sanctions, Switzerland has lost its neutrality. The country’s government admitted that it was involved in the conflict and confirmed which side it was on. In such circumstances there is no need to discuss neutrality and impartiality,” Rodion Miroshnik told Izvestia.

Initially, 160 nations were invited to the summit, including countries of the global south, as Kiev wanted wide representation to present a united global front that would force Russia to accept peace on its terms. However, only 70 to 80 countries responded, and the vast majority of heads of state will not attend, Izvestia writes. China has so far refused to send delegates. The presidents of Brazil and South Africa will both be absent. India will send delegates, but they will be lower-level officials. In addition, the summit will be missing Ukraine’s main ally, US President Joe Biden.

Seeing that the summit wouldn’t have many high-level attendees, the Kiev authorities reduced the meeting’s agenda to three minor issues – food and nuclear security, as well as humanitarian concerns, Izvestia writes.

In this way, Kiev is attempting to salvage the summit from being a complete failure. What’s more, Ukraine’s armed forces went into June with relatively poor results, making it hard for Kiev to dictate terms to Moscow, senior researcher at IMEMO RAS Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky told the newspaper.

“Seeing as how Ukraine is unable to repel the Russian offensive and replenish the ranks of its own armed forces, ultimatums to Russia do not seem appropriate to anyone,” the analyst told Izvestia.

At the same time, he noted that Washington and London are not concerned about whether or not the summit is successful. “What matters is that it effectively puts any negotiations on the backburner. The West has clearly chosen to prolong the conflict and eliminate any chance for a quick resolution. It’s hard for me to believe that Zelensky, losing support from the West, did not at least entertain the idea of entering into a dialogue with Moscow, if only to save his own hide,” the expert said.

SOURCE https://tass.com/pressreview/1797169