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Switzerland Says 90 States, Organizations Signed Up for Ukraine Summit

Swiss President Viola Amherd speaks as the government holds a press conference to brief media ahead of its June 15-16 peace summit for Ukraine, in Bern, Switzerland, June 10, 2024. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy
Swiss President Viola Amherd speaks as the government holds a press conference to brief media ahead of its June 15-16 peace summit for Ukraine, in Bern, Switzerland, June 10, 2024. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy
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Switzerland Says 90 States, Organizations Signed Up for Ukraine Summit

Swiss President Viola Amherd speaks as the government holds a press conference to brief media ahead of its June 15-16 peace summit for Ukraine, in Bern, Switzerland, June 10, 2024. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy
Swiss President Viola Amherd speaks as the government holds a press conference to brief media ahead of its June 15-16 peace summit for Ukraine, in Bern, Switzerland, June 10, 2024. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy

Ninety states and organizations have so far registered to take part in a summit aiming to pave the way for peace in Ukraine that Switzerland will host from June 15-16, the Swiss government said on Monday.
Russia has not been invited to the summit due to be held in central Switzerland, but, according to Reuters, the government said in a statement that the gathering will aim to "jointly define a roadmap" on how to involve both it and Ukraine in a future peace process.
Switzerland in January agreed to host the summit at the behest of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and has tried to drum up support for it among countries that have better relations with Moscow than leading Western powers.
Russia has dismissed the summit as a waste of time. It was not invited to participate, Switzerland says, because it signaled it had no interest in attending. Switzerland also stresses though, that Russia must be part of the peace process.
Its absence has encouraged powerful allies of Moscow such as China to say there is no point in peace talks unless both Russia and Ukraine take part. That has muted expectations for any kind of major breakthrough at the talks being held in Switzerland.
The summit is due to discuss areas of broad international concern, such as the need for nuclear and food security, freedom of navigation as well as humanitarian issues, such as prisoners of war, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said.

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Azerbaijani Minister Says Plane That Crashed Was Hit from the Outside, Possibly by a Weapon

A view shows the wreckage of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane at the crash site near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan December 25, 2024. (Administration of Mangystau region/Handout via Reuters)
A view shows the wreckage of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane at the crash site near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan December 25, 2024. (Administration of Mangystau region/Handout via Reuters)
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Azerbaijani Minister Says Plane That Crashed Was Hit from the Outside, Possibly by a Weapon

A view shows the wreckage of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane at the crash site near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan December 25, 2024. (Administration of Mangystau region/Handout via Reuters)
A view shows the wreckage of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane at the crash site near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan December 25, 2024. (Administration of Mangystau region/Handout via Reuters)

An Azerbaijani minister suggested Friday that an airliner that crashed this week was hit by a weapon, citing expert analysis and survivor testimony indicating that the plane was struck from the outside.

The statement from Rashad Nabiyev raised pressure on Russia. Officials in Moscow have said a drone attack was underway in the region that the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was destined for but have not addressed statements from aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defenses responding to a Ukrainian attack.

The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, on Wednesday when it turned toward Kazakhstan and crashed while making an attempt to land there. The crash killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured.

Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s minister of digital development and transportation, told Azerbaijani media that “preliminary conclusions by experts point at external impact,” as does witness testimony.

“The type of weapon used in the impact will be determined during the probe,” Nabiyev said.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.

Flight attendant Aydan Rahimli said that after one noise, the oxygen masks automatically released. She said that she went to perform first aid on a colleague, Zulfugar Asadov, and then they heard another bang.

Asadov said that the noises sounded like something hitting the plane from outside. He denied Kazakh officials’ claim that an oxygen canister exploded inside the plane.

Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.

Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau in Kazakhstan, across the Caspian Sea.

But he didn’t comment on statements from some aviation experts, who pointed out that holes seen in the plane’s tail section suggested that it could have come under fire from Russian air defense systems.

Ukrainian drones have previously attacked Grozny and other areas in the country’s North Caucasus.

Azerbaijan Airlines blamed the crash on unspecified “physical and technical interference” and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It didn’t say where the interference came from or provide any further details.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the claims that the plane was hit by Russian air defenses, saying that it will be up to investigators to determine the cause of the crash.

“The air incident is being investigated, and we don’t believe we have the right to make any assessments until the conclusions are made as a result of the investigation,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

If it’s proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian air defenses, it would be the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.

Russia has denied responsibility, but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an air defense system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military base.

Investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny as part of the probe of Wednesday's crash, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s office said in a statement.

Following Wednesday's suspension of flights from Baku to Grozy and Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airlines announced Friday that it would also halt service to eight more Russian cities.

The company will continue to operate flights to six Russian cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. Those cities also have been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drone strikes in the past.

Kazakhstan's Qazaq Air also announced Friday that it was suspending flights from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for a month.

FlyDubai also halted flights to Sochi and Mineralnye Vody in southern Russian for the next few days.

The day before, Israel's El Al carrier suspended flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow citing “developments in Russia’s airspace." The airline said it would reassess the situation next week.