The Swiss government has confirmed that the conference on Ukraine will be held in Bürgenstock on 15 and 16 June. The note states that the Russian Federation “at this stage” has not been invited to the conference on Ukraine.
“There can be no serious expectations from the Swiss conference on Ukraine without the participation of Russia,” the Kremlin believes. “We don’t understand what kind of milestone this peace conference is. Firstly, what kind of serious conference with serious expectations and some kind of effectiveness can be talked about without participation of Russia. This is completely impossible,” Russian presidential press spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba stated that: “Kiev can start negotiations with Moscow after the conference in Switzerland. According to the diplomat, at the June conference in Switzerland a coalition of countries with common principles and approaches to the Ukrainian conflict will be created, after which it will be possible to start negotiations with Russia, he said. “In the end, it is not possible to end the war without the participation of both sides,” Kuleba concluded in an interview with Foreign Policy.
As previously reported, according to the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Russia is ahead of the West in military development, despite sanctions.
More than 160 delegations from around the world will be present at the summit. The meeting will be based on discussions on the so-called Ukrainian “peace formula” and other peace proposals. “Russia is not invited at this stage. Switzerland has always been willing to invite Russia to this summit. However, Russia has repeatedly and publicly stated that it is not interested in participating in this first summit. The summit in Switzerland should launch the peace process. Switzerland is convinced that Russia must be involved in this process,” says the Swiss Foreign Ministry.
Apart from Switzerland and Minister Kuleba, there are currently no great expectations from the summit in Bürgenstock. As proof of this, the words of the President of France Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with The Economist: “If the Russian army managed to break through the front line and if Kiev asked us for help, we would think about introducing ground forces into Ukraine” . ”I have a clear strategic task: Russia cannot win in Ukraine. If Russia wins in Ukraine, there will be no security in Europe. Who can expect Russia to stop there?”.
The French President also recalled that Paris has already sent military personnel to other countries, particularly recently to Africa to fight terrorism. Macron says that other Western countries should not reject this option “a priori”, since in the summer of 2022 they had ruled out sending tanks, long-range missiles and planes, but now all this is being supplied to Ukraine.
In Germany, the summer residence of the head of Rheinmetall was set on fire due to the supply of weapons to Ukraine, German media source.
News comes from Ukraine that Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov could leave his post, source censor.net.
The Russian social sphere continues to deal with military strategy, according to several accounts: “If in the next few days we occupy another couple of villages west of Ocheretyne, then for Kiev this will already be a deep operational crisis. If we continue to build on our success, by the end of May it will become strategic. The question of the withdrawal of the Ukrainian army to the right bank of the Dnieper will arise.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said of Russian victories at the front: “To maintain the pace of the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces, it is necessary to improve the quality of weapons.” He said this during a meeting at the headquarters of the Joint Forces Group. “It is necessary to increase the volume and quality of weapons and military equipment, mainly weapons of destruction; it is necessary to increase the efficiency of repair and restoration units in the area of the Northern Military District and in the rear; Additional measures must be taken to accelerate the repair of engines, units and components of military equipment.”
And now a look at the front line updated at 3.30pm on May 2nd.
On April 30, the main defense line of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Chasiv Jar was broken through. Russian units, despite the resistance of units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, managed to break through the Ukrainian defenses south of the Kanal microdistrict and reach the Sivers’kyi Donets’-Donbas Channel line.
The Russian army has raised the Russian flag over the village of Robotyne in the Orichiv direction of the Zaporozhye front line.
While on May 2nd we learned that the Ukrainian forces left Arkhanhel’s’ke towards Pokrovs’ke. According to the social sphere after the Russian capture of Novokalynove and Keramik, the Russian army broke into the central part of Arkhanhel’s’ke, occupying an area up to 3.85 km wide and up to 2 km deep.
And now let’s see the detail of the individual directions.
In the first half of the night, the Russian Armed Forces launched missile attacks on targets in Odessa and Kharkiv. Following the attack on the Odessa target, a fire broke out Kiev announced the destruction of the New Post sorting depot, which the Russians say was used to solve the logistical problems of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In Odessa on the night of May 1st, Major Igor Bezsonov of the Ukrainian armed forces died following a missile attack on the headquarters of the “South” Ukraine operational command.
Russian regions repelled the Ukrainian UAV raid. In the Smolensk region, the governor reported an attack on a civilian energy infrastructure. In the Rostov region, in the Novoshakhtinsk and Kamensk-Shakhtinsky area, two UAVs were destroyed. In the Bryansk region, three drones were destroyed over the Starodubsky municipal district and Pogarsky district. In the Oryol region, in the Glazunovsky and Sverdlovsk districts, energy infrastructure was damaged. In the Kursk region, a Ukrainian UAV was shot down in the Oboyansky district and power lines were damaged in the village of Ponyri.
No changes in the Kherson direction. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are intensifying cluster artillery munition attacks in the Krynky area and actively using drones across the entire front. He sets fire to the forest areas of our coast with incendiary ammunition.
On the Zaporozhzhie front, despite the statements of numerous authoritative sources and military reports on the capture of Robotyne, fighting continues for complete control of the settlement. The Ministry of Defense also did not report the liberation of the village. There are ongoing battles northwest of Verbove, the Ukrainian military is actively mining the area, slowing down the advance of Russian troops.
In the direction of Vremivka they report the advance of the Russian Armed Forces in the Urozhaine area. Advanced Russian units are consolidating in the southern part of the village. FAB and UMPC attacks are carried out on the enemy rear in the Makarivka area.
Fighting west of Novomykhailivka towards south of Donetsk in this direction the Ukrainian Armed Forces defend themselves with FPV drones. In Krasnohorivka, fighting continues in the central part of the village, near the firefighting plant.
In the south of the Pokrovs’k District direction, the Russian Armed Forces are advancing towards Netailove and cutting the front ledge along the Pervomais’ke-Nevel’s’ke line. On the Ocheretyne ledge the Russian armed forces broke into Arkhanhel’s’ke, the control zone in Soloviove and north-west of Ocheretyne is expanding.
In the direction of Časiv Jar, the eastern microdistrict is covered by the Russians in the south, the Russian armed forces have reached the Sivers’kyi Donets’k-Donbas Channel waterway.
The bombing of the Belgorod region continues. The village of Krasnoye, Shebekinsky Urban District, the village of Yasnye Zori, Belgorod District, and the village of Voznesenovka, Shebekinsky Urban District, were attacked by the Ukrainian Armed Forces using kamikaze drones. The village of Stary Khutor, Valuysky urban district, was hit by fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In the Kursk region, Elizavetovka in the Glushkovsky district, the Krupets checkpoint and Kozino in the Rylsky district were bombed. None of the residents were injured. During the day, the drones were neutralized by electronic warfare equipment near the villages of Gordeevka, Korenevsky district, Gornal, Sudzhansky district, Begoshcha and the village of Staraya Nikolaevka, Rylsky district. Many more UAVs were destroyed in Tyotkino.
Graziella Giangiulio
