Kamala Harris To Represent U.S. At Ukraine Peace Summit

The U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to Switzerland next week to participate in the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, the White House announced Monday, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

“The Vice President will underscore the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to supporting Ukraine’s effort to secure a just and lasting peace, based on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the principles of the U.N. charter," Kirsten Allen, Harris' Communications Director said in a statement.

During the summit, scheduled for the day after the G7 so heads of state could attend, Harris will also “reaffirm support for the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against ongoing Russian aggression,” per the White House.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has heavily boosted the summit and encouraged world leaders to attend, as he’s accused Russia, with China’s help, of trying to undermine the meeting.

When asked by TURAN whether Secretary of State Antony Blinken was intending to accompany Harris in Switzerland, State Department's Spokesperson Mathew Miller offered no announcements during Monday's briefing.

"We want it to be successful, and that’s why you see the Vice President of the United States attending that summit.  We support Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts," he later said.

As for Zelenskyy's calling out China for sabotaging the event, Miller went on to add that the U.S. has always been clear that China could play a useful diplomatic role in helping resolve this conflict if it wanted to. 

"But that said, right now it’s hard to see how they could play that role given the actions that we’ve seen China take over recent months to rebuild, reconstitute Russia’s defense industrial base. So we are going to continue to make clear to China that we object to those actions, that we will hold entities responsible for those actions, and we’ve heard our European counterparts say the same thing," Miller concluded.