Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is in Switzerland for the international summit on Ukraine

The Patriarch left by plane this morning for Zurich from Istanbul.

The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will participate in the international summit for peace in Ukraine, which will take place on June 15 and 16 in Burgenstock, Switzerland. About 100 states and international organisations will participate.

The Ecumenical Patriarch is the only religious leader who will participate in the Summit, following an official invitation from the President of Switzerland, Viola Amherd.

His entourage includes the Metropolitans of Geron Chalkidonos Emmanuel and Maximos of Switzerland, as well as the great ecclesiastic Aetios, director of the Special Patriarchal Office.

The Patriarch left by plane this morning for Zurich from Istanbul.

World leaders join Ukraine summit in test of Kyiv's diplomatic clout

World leaders began gathering in Switzerland on Saturday for a summit to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine, but the absence of powerful allies of Moscow, such as China, will blunt its potential impact.

Dozens of Ukraine's allies will take part, but China is staying away after Russia was frozen out of proceedings on the grounds that it had dismissed the event as a waste of time and had no interest in attending.

China's absence means hopes the summit will show Russia as globally isolated have faded, while recent military reverses have put Kyiv on the back foot. The war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas has also diverted the world's attention from Ukraine.

The talks are expected to focus on broader concerns triggered by the war, such as food and nuclear security and freedom of navigation, and a draft of the final declaration identifies Russia as the aggressor, sources said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the event an important step towards progress. "Many questions of peace and security will be discussed, but not the very biggest. That was always the plan," he said, speaking to Welt TV before travelling to Switzerland.

"This is a small plant that needs to be watered, but of course also with the perspective that more can then come out of it."

On the eve of the gathering, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would end the war only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow - demands Kyiv swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender.

Putin's conditions apparently reflected Moscow's growing confidence that its forces has the upper hand in the war. Scholz cast them as an attempt to muddy the waters.

"Everyone knows that this is not a serious proposal, but had something to do with the peace conference in Switzerland," he told ZDF television in a separate interview.

Moscow casts what it calls its special military operation as part of a broader struggle with the West, which it says wants to bring Russia to its knees. Kyiv and its allies reject this and accuse Russia of waging an illegal war of conquest.

Switzerland, which took on the summit at the behest of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, wants to pave the way for a future peace process that includes Russia.

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