Peace talks impossible without Russia, China at table, Czech President says.

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Peace negotiations on the war in Ukraine will be impossible without the participation of Russia and China, Czech President Petr Pavel told CTK in an interview published on July 25. While around 100 countries and organizations attended Ukraine's global peace summit in Switzerland in June, Moscow was not invited to take part, and Beijing did not accept its invitation. Kyiv has said it plans to convene a second peace summit before the end of 2024.

"Without Russia and China at the table, there really won't be any peace negotiations," Pavel told CTV. Pavel described the peace summit in Switzerland as a "kick-off" to start the process of political negotiations toward peace. "The important thing is that the process has started." The Czech president also singled out China as an "important global player" economically, but currently not a leading power "in the politics of promoting peace."

Beijing has positioned itself as neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war but has simultaneously deepened economic ties with Moscow and backed the country against Western sanctions. China has also emerged as one of Russia's leading sources of dual-use goods that feed the Russian defense industry.

Ukraine's peace summit falls short of engaging Global South -- can Ukraine expand its coalition? More than half of the signatories came from Europe.

When counting other key Western allies outside of Europe - the U.S., Canada, and Australia - the disparity is even more stark.

Russia and China should be reminded "that there is a need to respect the rules we agreed upon after the Second World War, according to which the world has been operating for 80 years and should continue to operate," Pavel said. "We should try to improve those rules, not eliminate them," Pavel added. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba arrived in China on July 23, and went on to hold talks lasting more than three hours with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Guangzhou on July 24.

Kuleba said after the meeting that China remains "unshakably" committed to Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address the same evening that China confirmed that it will not provide Russia with weapons. "China has always been firmly committed to promoting a political solution to the crisis," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website on July 24.  

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