Kremlin says it backs China’s refusal to take part in Ukraine peace summit

The Kremlin said on Friday that Moscow supported China’s refusal to take part in a peace summit on Ukraine next month in Switzerland because it was futile to hold such an event without Russia’s participation.
The talks were convened at the initiative of Ukrainian President Zelenskiy who has said Russian President Vladimir Putin should not attend.
Switzerland has not invited Russia, which sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 in what it called a special military operation which Kyiv and the West describe as an illegal war of conquest.
China has confirmed it will not attend the Swiss event, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters earlier on Thursday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that China’s decision showed that Beijing understood that holding such an event without Russia would be pointless.