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Source: Global Times

[Global Times Special Correspondent in Russia Xiao Xinxin, Global Times Special Correspondent Liu Yupeng] According to reports from the Ukrainian National News Agency and Agence France-Presse on the 15th, Ukrainian President Zelensky said at a press conference in Kiev that day that Russian representatives should attend the second Ukrainian Peace Summit. Both Russia and the United States responded to this.

Ukrainian President Zelensky's profile picture Source: Foreign media

"I believe that Russian representatives should attend the second (Ukrainian peace) summit," Zelensky said, adding that he plans to complete preparations for the summit in November. "My goal is to have a fully prepared plan in November. Once the plan is prepared, everything will be ready for the second summit."

Zelensky said that before the second Ukrainian Peace Summit, a meeting on energy security is planned to be held in Qatar from the end of July to the beginning of August, and a meeting on food security is planned to be held in Turkey in August. In addition, a meeting on humanitarian issues, prisoner exchange and other issues is also planned to be held in Canada in September.

Zelensky said Ukraine was not under pressure to negotiate with Russia, and that Western military or financial support was not conditional on holding talks with Russia. He also said that aid and support from the West and others enabled Ukraine to resist the Russian attack, but did not give Ukraine enough advantage to win. It is reported that the first Ukrainian Peace Summit was held in Switzerland from June 15 to 16 this year. Russia did not attend the summit.

According to a report by RIA Novosti on the 16th, Russian President's Press Secretary Peskov responded on the same day that Russia was not clear about what Zelensky meant by the second peace summit. Peskov said that the first peace summit was not a peace summit at all, and Russia first needed to figure out what Zelensky meant. Peskov also said that at present, the current US government opposes any dialogue and insists on continuing the conflict until "the last Ukrainian", and is willing to use financial resources and military equipment for this purpose. This is the reality facing Russia. Slutsky, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament), said on the 15th that Zelensky's tone was completely unacceptable, there was no "should", and Russia did not owe Zelensky and his "military government" anything, "I also believe that Russia will not participate in these so-called summits on the terms of Kiev and the West."

The U.S. State Department website stated on the 15th that U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on the same day that the United States would support Zelensky's proposal to allow Russia to participate in the second Ukrainian peace summit, and the United States has discussed this with Ukraine. Miller said that any decision on diplomatic negotiations should be made by Ukraine, not the United States or any other non-conflicting country. It is up to Ukraine to decide when and in what form diplomatic negotiations will be conducted. He said that the United States has always supported Ukraine to take diplomatic means when it is ready, but it has never been clear whether Russia is ready for real diplomatic negotiations. "We will continue to stand with Ukraine. If they believe it is appropriate to take further diplomatic measures with Russia, we will support their decision."

The website of Russia's Channel 5 TV station said on the 15th that Russian political scientist Ivan believes that the so-called peace summit proposed by Zelensky completely ignores the conditions, demands and interests put forward by the Russian side. The fundamental purpose is not to advocate constructive dialogue, but to repeat clichés based on its position with the support of the West and put pressure on Russia. At present, Russia has the upper hand on the battlefield and continues to expand its victory. If the Ukrainian authorities cannot start real negotiations based on reality as soon as possible, they will face a more unfavorable situation in the future.

Russia's "Military Observer" said on the 16th that since Russia did not attend the first peace summit and the summit did not meet the Ukrainian authorities' expectations, it is possible that Zelensky attempted to use Russia's participation in the second summit to seek more support from the United States and other Western countries to exert greater direct pressure on Russia. Zelensky's attitude also shows that due to the positive results achieved by the current Russian offensive, the Ukrainian authorities have softened their attitude towards contacting Russia as the war situation worsens, and no longer simply refuse and avoid it.

The New York Times reported on the 16th that Zelensky's remarks that Russia should participate in the second Ukrainian peace summit indicate that Ukraine hopes to resolve the conflict through negotiations and has even begun to implement this plan. The report said that Zelensky's statement came at a time when the Russian army has made many achievements on the battlefield recently. The Russian army regained control of the village of Urozaynoye in the Donetsk region and gradually penetrated into Chasov Yar.

Agence France-Presse said on the 16th that compared with the first peace summit held in June this year, which excluded Russia, Zelensky's attitude and tone have changed significantly. But the Russian side responded with caution. The report said that given the recent achievements of the Russian army on the battlefield and the increased possibility of former US President Trump winning the US election in November, Ukraine is increasingly worried about the long-term development of the conflict. Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Russia and Eurasia Center, believes that Russia has no motivation to participate in diplomatic negotiation meetings because the Russian army is making many progress on the front line. As long as the "window period" for the Russian army's offensive exists, Russia will seek to take advantage of it, and all these statements from Ukraine are "unlikely to lead to any real changes in diplomatic peace talks."

Further reading

The delivery of F16 to Ukraine is considered the most important thing for Ukrainian defense.

Ukraine's long-awaited F-16 fighter jets have finally arrived. This is the important news announced by US Secretary of State Blinken at the NATO summit held in Washington on the 10th - the first batch of F-16 fighter jets have begun to be shipped from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine.

Screenshot of report from the U.S. Defense News website

The U.S. Defense News website said on the 11th that a joint statement issued by the leaders of the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands stated that the handover process of the F-16 fighter jets provided to Ukraine is underway. "These jet fighters will fly in the Ukrainian skies this summer to ensure that Ukraine can continue to effectively defend against Russian aggression."

According to reports, the governments of Denmark and the Netherlands first agreed to provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine last year, followed by other countries such as Norway and Belgium. Norway previously said it would provide six F-16s to Ukraine, Belgium would provide 30, and the Netherlands would provide 24.

According to reports from various sources, the biggest obstacle for Ukraine to receive F-16s is not the aircraft itself - after all, these second-hand fighters have basically just been retired from active service and can be put into combat directly without any modification; the trouble is concentrated on the training of pilots and the construction of supporting facilities. Defense News said that one of the most difficult challenges is the language barrier, because the terminology used by pilots and crew members is very technical, and it is difficult for Ukrainian personnel receiving training to master it in a short period of time. The Pentagon revealed that more than 12 Ukrainian pilots have received training in Denmark and the United States, and some of them have completed training in late May.

But Ukraine still complains that the number of pilots receiving training is too small, and demands that Western countries speed up the pace and scale of pilot training.

Biden's speech at the NATO summit

US media admitted that obtaining F-16 fighter jets has long been a priority for Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian media, this type of American fighter jet is one of the few "Russian-destroying artifacts" that has not been exposed in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Therefore, receiving the F-16 will help boost Ukraine's morale.

Mark Cancian, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S. think tank, said, "Symbolically, this is extremely important. This is indeed the last thing that Ukrainian President Zelensky considers to be the most important thing for Ukraine's national defense."

But Kancian believes that "this will help Ukraine's air defense, but it will not be a miracle solution. Because the reason is simple, there are not enough F-16s." In mid-May, Zelensky said that Ukraine needed 120 to 130 F-16s to end Russia's air superiority, but the total number of F-16s promised by the West would not exceed 100, and the delivery time was very long.

Justin Bronk, an air force analyst at a British think tank, said the latest statement may only imply that the ownership of these F-16 fighters has been transferred to Ukraine, but it does not really enter combat readiness. He believes that Ukraine faces many severe challenges in operating and using F-16 fighters. For example, Russia has recently used ballistic missiles to attack Ukrainian airports many times. It is generally believed that the Russian air strikes are intended to show that it has the ability to directly destroy Ukrainian airports where F-16 fighters are parked. Bronk said that these Russian attacks reminded Ukraine: If there is no sufficient air defense system, the Ukrainian army should not expect the F-16 fighters to fully exert their combat power.

Screenshot of foreign media reports

I have introduced these second-hand F-16 fighters that Ukraine is about to acquire many times before. They are early models that have been modernized and have the ability to launch AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles and various ground attack weapons, but there may be major problems in terms of fire control radar performance and airframe life. In general, they cannot confront the main fighters of the Russian Su-30SM and Su-35 head-on. In addition, the F-16 has high requirements for airport runways and supporting facilities, and the existing airports in Ukraine are generally in poor condition. This is also the reason why Western experts have doubts about whether the Ukrainian Air Force has the ability to maintain and operate these American fighters.

But on the other hand, these F-16s are all NATO standard equipment and can be directly integrated into NATO's integrated command and intelligence system through data links. As we all know, the Russian army is actually facing the Ukrainian army under the unified command of NATO, but because the Ukrainian army's previous old Soviet-era fighters cannot directly connect with the NATO combat system, the combat efficiency is not ideal. With the service of the F-16, the combat efficiency of the Ukrainian Air Force will be greatly improved in the future. At the same time, the F-16 can mount almost all NATO weapons, so the Ukrainian army may use these fighters to carry long-range ground attack weapons to directly threaten the Russian army's rear targets.

Defense News also mentioned that in the future these F-16s can also work together with the two early warning aircraft that Sweden promised to provide to Ukraine. However, Bronk said that Ukraine may not be able to find personnel who can operate these early warning aircraft skillfully, let alone command complex air operations.