Kyiv: According to a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the only way to put an end to Russia's war in Ukraine is through Kyiv's peace plan, and the window for mediation efforts has closed.

Ihor Zhovkva, Ukraine's chief diplomatic advisor, told Reuters that his country wanted to implement its peace plan, which calls for the complete withdrawal of Russian forces, and had no interest in a cease-fire that secures Russian territorial gains.

In recent months, a flurry of peace initiatives from South Africa, China, Brazil, and the Vatican were resisted by him.

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"There cannot be a Brazilian peace plan, a Chinese peace plan, or a South African peace plan when you are talking about the war in Ukraine," Zhovkva said in an interview late on Friday.

In response to peace initiatives made by some of the Global South's members this month, Zelensky made a significant effort to court the region. He spoke with the delegations representing Iraq and other countries at the Arab League summit on May 19 in Saudi Arabia, which he attended.

The leaders of India and Indonesia, significant voices in the Global South, were met by him in Japan before the Group of Seven summit of major economic powers in Hiroshima.

While the Global South, which includes Latin America, Africa, and much of Asia, has been the focus of Russian diplomatic efforts for years, has not shown the same level of support for Kyiv in its fight against the Kremlin as the West has.

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During the conflict in Ukraine, Moscow has improved relations with countries in the Global South, including by selling more of its energy to China and India.

Russia has been working to divert supplies away from its traditional European markets and towards markets in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East in response to a Western embargo on seaborne Russian oil imports.

Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, frequently visited Africa during the conflict and was in Nairobi on Monday hoping to seal a trade agreement with Kenya. This summer, St. Petersburg will play host to a summit between Russia and Africa.

The second wartime tour of Africa by Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, began last week as a sign of how the country is attempting to counteract Russia's influence in the region.

Zhovkva of Ukraine stated that gaining support in the Global South was of utmost importance. At the beginning of the invasion, Ukraine concentrated on its relationships with Western allies, but maintaining peace was a concern for all nations, he said.

He downplayed the likelihood that Pope Francis' calls for dialogue with Russia to address the "political problem" of the occupied territories of Ukraine would be heeded.
"We don't need any mediators in this state of open conflict. Mediation is no longer an option, he declared.

At the G7 summit, Zhovkva claimed that the response to Ukraine's 10-point peace plan had been overwhelmingly favourable.
 The (G7) nations had no objections to any of the formulas, according to Zhovkva.

He added that the site was still under discussion. Kyiv wanted G7 leaders to assist in bringing as many Global South leaders as possible to a "Peace Summit" it proposed this summer.

The peace negotiations between Russia and Kyiv, which broke down a few months after the invasion, have been declared open. However, it insists that any negotiations be based on "new realities," which Kyiv will not accept, and by "new realities" it means its declared annexation of five Ukrainian provinces that it fully or partially controls.

China, the second-largest economy in the world and Ukraine's main trading partner before the conflict, has promoted a 12-point peace plan that calls for a pause in hostilities but does not denounce the invasion or require Russia to leave occupied territory.

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Beijing, which maintains close ties with the Russian government, dispatched its top representative Li Hui to Kyiv and Moscow this month to promote peace negotiations.

The situation on the battlefield, at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the power grid, and the transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia—which Kyiv claims is a Russian war crime—were all thoroughly briefed to the envoy, according to Zhovkva.
He paid close attention as he spoke. We shall see. There was no immediate reaction. China is a wise nation that recognises its place in world affairs.