Russia bills Türkiye forum superior to Western venues for global dialogue

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has praised the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, saying it is a better place to discuss global affairs than its Western counterparts.

Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow on Wednesday, Zakharova commended the forum for its "successful organisation", noting that it attracted a lot of foreign guests.

"This well-established international dialogue platform in the current global situation is more suited to the tasks of discussing and coordinating positions on topical foreign policy issues than similar events held within the framework of Western forums such as the Munich Security Conference, which has turned into some kind of anti-Russian, Russophobic, somewhat even racist gathering," she said.

Zakharova negatively responded to a question about Russia's possible participation in a peace conference on Ukraine, which is reportedly being organised by Switzerland.

"Russia does not intend to take part in such a conference, even if it is officially invited. This forum will be dedicated to promoting the ultimatum formula of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, although its Swiss organisers pretend to be looking for a common denominator among peace initiatives of different countries," she said.

She also said that Switzerland "can hardly serve as a platform for various peacekeeping efforts" because it lacks neutrality.

Switzerland "takes an openly pro-Ukrainian position, votes for anti-Russian resolutions, considers the seizure of our frozen assets, joins illegal anti-Russian sanctions and accepts meetings according to the Zelenskyy formula."

"Finally, in January 2023, it was enshrined in the Swiss foreign policy strategy that the European security system should be built not with Russia, but 'against Russia.' These actions are incompatible with mediation services," she stressed.

Diplomacy and politics

The Antalya Diplomacy Forum is an annual conference held by Türkiye since 2021.

Policymakers and diplomats exchange views on diplomacy and politics to address things like wars, terrorism, migration, xenophobia, Islamophobia, AI and the climate crisis.

Russia and Ukraine held several rounds of peace talks in Istanbul in March 2022.

Since then, there have not been any meetings seeking a diplomatic settlement of the conflict.