Biden's vision for a Palestinian state doomed, experts say: 'An explicit recognition of Hamas'

JERUSALEM — Reports the Biden administration and a small group of Middle East states will soon begin pushing a new peace initiative with the aim of creating a Palestinian state have drawn pushback from the Israeli government, which declared this week it will not accept "international diktats."  

Regional experts also say such efforts are doomed to fail as they have in the past.   

Last week, the Israeli government, including more moderate members of what is considered to be the most right-wing cabinet Israel ever, unanimously declared its opposition to any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, saying such a move would only reward terrorism and prevent a future peace settlement.

"If a settlement is to be reached, it will come about solely through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions," a statement issued by the government said.

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An Israeli media report over the weekend suggested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had, however, presented his security cabinet members with a discussion paper about Gaza, stating clearly that Israel plans to maintain security control over all land west of Jordan, including Gaza and other parts of the territories where Palestinians hope to establish an independent state.

Israel has been battling the Iranian-backed terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 when thousands of its terrorists crossed the border, murdering 1,200 people and taking some 240 people hostage. Even as Israeli troops gear up for what could be the final phase of the war, Netanyahu and his defense chief Yoav Gallant remain reluctant to discuss any broader future arrangements for the war-torn enclave.

Prof. Efraim Inbar, President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told Fox News Digital efforts by the U.S. administration to find a solution to the decades-old intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict were nothing new and, as in the past, efforts to bring about a Palestinian state, particularly under the current conditions, were unlikely to succeed. 

"What the Americans want, a revitalized Palestinian Authority, is nothing new. … We saw a similar attempt during the Bush era," Inbar said. "I think the question we should be asking is why would a Palestinian state look any different to the Palestinian entities we've seen so far?"

Inbar said any future Palestinian state would need to be ready to "make some real compromises," including recognizing the Zionist movement, accepting Israel as a Jewish state and Jerusalem as its capital and relinquishing some of its territorial dreams. 

A Palestinian state would also have to exclude terror entities like Hamas, who Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh recently referred to as being "part of the Palestinian people" and "a partner in any future political entity." 

"These attempts are noble, but they did not succeed in the past, and I do not see that the current Palestinian leadership is ready to change the situation," said Inbar. 

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Even Fatah, the Palestinian political faction led by the current Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, "are not the nicest of neighbors," he said, noting that, in the past few months "dozens" of members of the Authority’s official security forces have carried out terror attacks against Israelis and that after 30 years of PA rule, the population had been indoctrinated to "hate Jews and Israel." 

"I’m not optimistic about what a Palestinian state would look like at this stage," Inbar said. He added the Palestinian people had also given up hope with their own leadership due to corruption and that any future Palestinian state would most likely carry the same political culture as others in the Arab world, namely dictatorships and tribalism. 

Bassem Eid, a Palestinian human rights activist and political analyst, also expressed doubts about the success of a future Palestinian state based on past attempts to create a self-governing entity. 

"In my opinion, those leaders who are calling for a Palestinian state have forgotten one important thing – that a state must be built before it is recognized," he said. 

Eid said there is no suitable infrastructure for a Palestinian state — no real economy and a society where the majority of the population still lived in refugee camps. 

"What kind of state would that be?" he wondered. "I don’t think that is the kind of state the Palestinians are hoping for."

"My conclusion is that the Palestinians are not really qualified for a state," he said, describing how the last attempt to create a Palestinian state was when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon disengaged from Gaza. 

"He wanted to give the Palestinians Gaza so they could start building their own state, but look at what they did there. They turned Gaza from Singapore into ISIS," he said. "I don’t think that calling for a Palestinian state right now is a legitimate demand." 

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Eid said he believed Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack "set the Israeli-Palestinian conflict backward 50 years" and that instead of calling for the creation of a Palestinian state, there should be international efforts to "build bridges to bring the Israelis and Palestinians together" after the trauma. 

He also said the focus now should move away from the Palestinian Authority, and from Hamas, who are both "specialists in destroying states," and should be put instead on local Palestinian tribes. 

"Let’s call the tribes and give them a chance to rule," said Eid. "I believe they will succeed in ruling the Palestinians much better than Hamas or the Palestinian Authority. At least let them try for the next five years, then probably a charismatic Palestinian leader will emerge, we can hold elections and then negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians can start." 

Khaled Hassan, a political risk and intelligence analyst with over 13 years of experience working in the Middle East, also said that prospects for the creation of a Palestinian state under the current conditions were dim. 

"The establishment of a state requires tremendous efforts and international support, including a unified nationalist movement, similar to the Zionist Movement in the early 20th century," he told Fox News Digital. 

"A Palestinian state would, most importantly, need Palestinian unity and Israeli recognition," he said, adding that any discussion over who might lead this potential state would "most likely spark a civil war among Palestinians" and that "Israel was highly unlikely to recognize a Palestinian state."

"A Palestinian state can’t be imposed on Israel," Hassan said. "Arab states have for decades recognized a Palestinian state, but this has led to little to nothing in reality. Although, if there was American and British unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, that could result in unprecedented political, and legal, repercussions for Israel." 

"It might not lead to a Palestinian state coming to life, but it would greatly diminish Israel’s standing within the international community," he said. 

If such a state did successfully emerge, Hassan added, the Palestinians would grapple with finding suitable leadership. 

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"Hamas is demanding not only to be part of a future state, but to lead it," he said. He said the creation of a state as a result of the Oct. 7 terror attacks would be "an explicit recognition of Hamas as a resistance movement whose attacks led to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"For Palestinians, the legitimacy of a political leader is largely based on their involvement in anti-Israel terror, so any Palestinian leaders who condemn terrorism are perceived as traitors and agents of Israel." 

He noted that previous U.S. attempts to install a more moderate Palestinian leader, one that rejected terrorism, had "been met with staggering frustration." 

"Public statements by the late Egyptian presidents Sadat and Mubarak, as well as U.S. President Bill Clinton have illustrated this," said Hassan, recalling the widespread condemnation and boycott of Egypt due to its peace treaty with Israel. 

"Sadat described Arabs, including Palestinians, who boycotted Egypt over the talks as reckless ‘children and teenagers’ who should not be entrusted with the fate of Egyptians, Arabs and Palestinians," he said. "His words still ring true 40 years later as the world watches what the recklessness of Palestinian leaders have brought upon their people and upon millions of Israelis who did not want this war." 

While the challenges to creating a Palestinian state appear insurmountable, Omer Zanany, head of the joint unit for peace and security at the Mitvim Institute and the Berl Katznelson Center in Israel, said Israelis under the current government were also likely to thwart the efforts. 

He said Israel faces two choices – continuing the war in Gaza at the risk of the conflict escalating to other fronts or seizing what might be a "historic opportunity to end the war, bring home the hostages and defeat Hamas by entering into negotiations for a two-state solution." 

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Zanany, who heads a joint Israeli-Palestinian task force exploring the options, said there needed to be a gradual process that would bring enduring security for both Israelis and Palestinians. Such a process, he said, would put "hope" on the political horizon that would help to bring about crucial changes in both societies. 

"If we know there’s something that we can change, we have to begin with a process," he said."I am not talking about having peace tomorrow but about getting into a new track. And I think that’s exactly what Biden, Secretary of State Blinken and the Saudis are saying." 

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Putin’s ‘greatest hits’: Russian dissidents continue disappearing in pattern of bizarre deaths

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opponents continue to disappear in a pattern of strange and sudden deaths, and his greatest domestic opponent, Alexei Navalny, died after a sudden collapse, according to Russian authorities.       

"Generally, as a culture, the Russians don’t believe in coincidences. But, in this particular case, there’s a reason why, although we are unlikely to determine conclusively exactly how Navalny died, many analysts agree that Russian intelligence services are likely behind his death," Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and the author of "Putin's Playbook," told Fox News Digital. 

"There’s a specific intelligence tradecraft that dates back to 1920 that the Soviets used to eliminate the so-called enemies of the state," Koffler said. "The Soviets and now the Russians are also masters of covering their tracks and making the assassination look like it’s a natural or accidental death.

"Wet affairs, which connotes the spilling of blood is a doctrine of targeted assassinations, includes poisonings, executions with a shot in the back of the head, forced suicides — such as throwing yourself out of a window — explosions of a mini-bomb hidden in a box of chocolates … and other contrived methods," Koffler explained. 

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Koffler argued that Putin has not been shy about indicating that the deaths of opposition — be it a direct rival like Navalny or an ally challenging his authority like Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin — occurred at his behest because "he wants us to know that his operatives are behind the operation."

"He sends us subtle signals that are easily picked up by those who understand who Putin is and know Russian intelligence signature tactics," Koffler said. "For example, after [GRU officer] Sergei Skripal was poisoned, Putin, in an interview with the Financial Times in June 2019, said that ‘treason is the biggest crime on Earth, and traitors must be punished.’

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"In 2010, responding to a question as to whether he had ever had to sign an order ‘to liquidate enemies of the motherland abroad,’ Putin said, ‘Traitors will kick the bucket on their own — whatever they got in exchange for it — those 30 pieces of silver they were given, they will choke on them’," she added. 

Navalny died in prison last week after collapsing in what prison officials claimed was a case of "sudden death syndrome," but an anonymous paramedic claiming to work for a morgue told independent news outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe that he saw bruising on the body consistent with a person being held down while having a seizure. 

Prigozhin, who died when his plane suddenly exploded, killing him and everyone on board, and Navalny are two of the highest-profile examples of Putin’s opponents meeting sudden demises, but many examples have occurred throughout his reign. 

Boris Nemtsov, another major domestic rival, died in 2015 right before an opposition rally. A gunman from a passing car shot Nemtsov four times while he was crossing a bridge outside the Kremlin. Putin offered condolences and called the death "provocation" before ordering authorities to investigate. 

Authorities eventually arrested five men who ended up sentenced to 11 and 20 years in prison for Nemtsov’s murder, but the Russian government has consistently refused to classify Nemtsov’s death as a political assassination.  

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Anna Politkovskaya, an American Russian journalist and human rights activist, was gunned down in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building in 2006. She regularly criticized the Kremlin, particularly regarding policies related to Chechnya. A probe into her death failed to determine who ordered her death, and investigators dismissed the involvement of a Moscow-backed Ramzan Kadyrov, who eventually took power as the head of the Chechen Republic.

Kadyrov also denied any involvement in the death of journalist Natalya Estemirova, who was abducted and killed in 2008 outside her home in Grozny. Chechnya reinstated Russian federal rule in 2009 and has remained a staunch ally of Russia, speaking out in favor of Putin’s war against Ukraine and supplying troops. 

More recently, a number of high-profile Russian businessmen died in a series of bizarre accidents after speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including oil giant Lukoil’s Chairman Ravil Maganov, who fell out a hospital window. Lukoil said Maganov died from an illness, but Russian media and investigators determined he had fallen out of a sixth-story window. 

Pavel Antov, known as the "sausage king" of Russia and a local politician, also fell from a window in late 2022. Authorities found him dead outside the Hotel Sai International in Rayagada, India, after celebrating his 65th birthday only days earlier. One of Antov’s traveling companions also died at the hotel. 

At least eight other Russian oligarchs died under strange circumstances over the first year of the invasion, and international investigators suggested the deaths could have been staged suicides or assassinations as retaliation for their opposition to the invasion or links to corruption in Russian gas company Gazprom.  

Koffler explained to Fox News Digital that the deaths, if carried out by intelligence, will always be designed "deliberately to be stealthy so no investigator could identify foul play.

"They are usually deemed ‘tragic accidents,’ [which is] also part of the doctrine," she added.

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King Charles praises Ukraine’s ‘determination,’ denounces Russia’s ‘indescribable aggression’ 2 years into war

King Charles on Saturday praised Ukraine’s "determination and strength" in the face of Russia’s "indiscernible aggression" while marking two years since the country was invaded. 

"The determination and strength of the Ukrainian people continues to inspire as the unprovoked attack on their land, their lives and livelihoods, enters a third, tragic, year," the monarch wrote in an official statement. 

He added, "Despite the tremendous hardship and pain inflicted upon them, Ukrainians continue to show the heroism with which the world associates them so closely. Theirs is true valour, in the face of indescribable aggression." 

The king said he had "felt this personally" in meetings he’s had with Ukrainians since the war started, including with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Oleksandra Zelenska and Ukrainian army recruits training in the United Kingdom. 

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He continued, "I continue to be greatly encouraged that the United Kingdom and our allies remain at the forefront of international efforts to support Ukraine at this time of such great suffering and need. My heart goes out to all those affected, as I remember them in my thoughts and prayers."

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

The king’s unusually strong statement comes after the U.K. hit Russia with more sanctions following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The U.S. has also levied more sanctions on the country. 

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The British Embassy in Washington, D.C. also lit up its building in the colors of the Ukrainian flag in a show of support on Saturday night. 

Charles hosted Zelenskyy a year ago at Buckingham Palace when the Ukrainian president made a surprise visit to the U.K., nearly one year since the war started. 

"We've all been worried about you and thinking about your country for so long, I can't tell you," the king said at the time. 

In March of last year, Prince William made a surprise visit to see British and Polish troops stationed on Poland’s border with Ukraine.

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"I’m here because I want to personally thank the Polish and British troops working in close and crucial partnership," the Prince of Wales said at the time." I also want to pay tribute to the inspiring humanity of the Polish people. You have opened your hearts as much as your homes," he added, of the Polish people’s willingness to accept Ukrainian refugees. 

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Mexican president defends sharing NYT reporter's number; says privacy laws don't apply to him

Mexico’s president on Friday defended his decision to disclose a reporter’s telephone number, saying a law that prohibits officials from releasing personal information doesn’t apply to him.

Press freedom groups said the president's decision to make public the phone number of a New York Times reporter Thursday was an attempt to punish critical reporting, and exposed the reporter to potential danger.

Mexico's law on Protection of Personal Data states "the government will guarantee individuals' privacy" and sets out punishments for officials and others for "improperly using, taking, publishing, hiding, altering or destroying, fully or partially, personal data."

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President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that "the political and moral authority of the president of Mexico is above that law," adding that "no law can be above the sublime principle of liberty." He also accused U.S. media of acting with "arrogance."

He also downplayed the risks to journalists, saying it was "an old song that you (reporters) use to discredit our government," and suggesting the Times reporter should just "change her telephone number."

Mexico is one of the deadliest places in the world for reporters outside of war zones. The Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, has documented the killings of at least 55 journalists in Mexico since 2018, when López Obrador took office.

Jan-Albert Hootsen, the Mexico representative for the CPJ, noted the publication of a reporter's phone number in Mexico can be dangerous.

"The vast majority of threats and harassment and intimidation that reporters in this country, both foreign and domestic, receive, are conveyed through messages on messaging apps to mobile phones," Hootsen said.

The situation began Thursday when López Obrador denied allegations contained in a New York Times story about a U.S. investigation into claims that people close to him took money from drug traffickers shortly before his 2018 election and again after he was president.

The story cited unidentified U.S. officials familiar with the now shelved inquiry and noted that a formal investigation was not opened, nor was it known how much of the informants’ allegations were independently confirmed.

As is common practice, the Times reporter had sent a letter to López Obrador's spokesman asking for the president's comment on the story before it was published, and included her telephone number as a means of contacting her.

At his daily press briefing that day, the president displayed the letter on a large screen and read it aloud, including her phone number.

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, the New York Times wrote that "This is a troubling and unacceptable tactic from a world leader at a time when threats against journalists are on the rise."

Asked about the issue Friday at a White House press briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said "obviously, that’s not something we support."

"It is important for the press to be able to report on issues that matter to the American people freely and in a way that, obviously, you all feel secure and safe and in a way that you’re not being doxed or attacked. That is, you know, that is something that we will obviously reject," she said,

Mexico's National Institute for Transparency and Information Access, the agency charged with upholding personal data laws, announced Thursday it is launching an investigation into the president's actions.

But it is unclear how much good that will do: López Obrador has frequently criticized the institute and has proposed abolishing it.

Leopoldo Maldonado, of the press freedom group Article 19, said "Obviously, he is doing it with the intention of inhibiting the work of journalists and trying to prevent the publication of issues of public interest concerning his administration and the people around him."

"This is something the president has done before," Maldonado noted.

In 2022, López Obrador published a chart showing the income of Carlos Loret de Mola, a journalist who had written stories critical of the president.

The president said he got such information — which Loret de Mola has said is wrong — "from the people," but later said he based the chart in part on tax receipts, which would have been available only to the party who wrote them or the government tax agency.

López Obrador regularly lashes out at the media, claiming they treat him unfairly and are part of a conservative conspiracy to undermine his administration.

He has also expressed anger at what he claims is U.S. tolerance for such media reports. It is the second time in recent weeks that the foreign press has published stories signaling that the U.S. government has looked into alleged contacts between López Obrador allies and drug cartels.

In late January, ProPublica, Deutsche Welle and InSight Crime published stories describing an earlier U.S. investigation into whether López Obrador campaign aides took money from drug traffickers in exchange for facilitating their operations during an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2006.

In that instance, López Obrador placed blame squarely at the feet of the U.S. government and wondered aloud why he should continue discussing issues like immigration with a government that was trying to damage him.

On Thursday U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, "There is no investigation into President López Obrador."

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UAE, other countries removed from international money laundering watchlist

An international watchdog said Friday that it was removing the United Arab Emirates from its so-called gray list of countries that don't take full measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

The announcement was made by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force following its meeting in the French capital. The FATF welcomed the UAE's "significant progress in improving" its anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing policies.

Barbados, Gibraltar and Uganda will also be removed from the FATF's gray list, the watchdog said in a statement Friday following its plenary meetings.

They "will no longer be subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process," the watchdog said in a statement.

Being on the watchdog’s gray list can scare away investors and creditors, hurting exports, output and consumption. It also can make global banks wary of doing business with a country.

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Colombia to send deep-water expedition to explore 300-year-old shipwreck thought to hold treasure

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government on Friday announced plans for a deep-water expedition to explore the mythical galleon San José, sunk in the 18th century in the country’s northern Caribbean and believed to contain cargo valued at billions of dollars.

It is the first phase of a scientific research into deep waters that aims at collecting information to determine which pieces are suitable and possible to extract. The wreckage is 600 meters deep in the sea.

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Colombia located the galleon in 2015 but it has since been mired in legal and diplomatic disputes, and its exact location is a state secret.

Colombia's government says it will invest around $4.5 million this year in an archaeological exploration of the 62-gun, three-masted galleon that sank in 1708 after being ambushed by an English squadron on its way to Cartagena.

For the first phase of the investigation, the Colombian government does not intend to partner with private companies, said Alhena Caicedo Fernández, general director of the Colombian Institute of Archeology and History (ICANH) during a symposium on the galleon held Friday in Cartagena.

The expedition would start in spring depending on weather conditions.

Hermann León Rincón, a Navy Rear Admiral and oceanographer, told reporters the expedition involves submerging robotic equipment that is connected to a Navy ship. From there, using cameras and keeping a detailed record of its movements, he said, the robot will be positioned in connection with a satellite that is in geostationary orbit.

The robotic system was acquired by Colombia in 2021 and has the capacity to descend up to 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) deep.

Carlos Reina Martínez, archaeologist and leader of the submerged cultural heritage of ICANH, said the operation seeks to discover what life was like for the 600 people on board the boat when it sank and to study daily life, the cargo, artillery and merchandise of the colonial era in America.

"It is time to claim the heritage elements for which the remains of the galleon should be valued," said Juan David Correa, Colombia's minister of culture, who insisted that the value of the wreck is patrimonial and not monetary. "History is the treasure."

The ship has been the subject of a legal battle in the U.S., Colombia and Spain over who owns the rights to the sunken treasure.

Colombia’s government said Thursday that it formally began arbitration litigation with Sea Search Armada, a group of American investors, for the economic rights of the San José. The firm claims $10 billion corresponding to what they assume is worth 50% of the galleon treasure that they claim to have discovered in 1982.

The ship is believed to hold 11 million gold and silver coins, emeralds and other precious cargo from Spanish-controlled colonies, which could be worth billions of dollars if ever recovered.

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Ukraine's top diplomat tells skeptics at the UN that his country 'will win the war'

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ukraine’s foreign minister on Friday told skeptics who believe Ukraine can’t win the war with Russia that they will be proven wrong: "Ukraine will win the war."

Dmytro Kuleba, speaking at the United Nations on the eve of the second anniversary of Russia's invasion, urged the world's nations to stand behind Ukraine. If they do, he said, victory will come "sooner rather than later."

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Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia countered by repeating Moscow's claim that it didn't start the conflict. He blamed the West for fomenting it, accused Ukraine of being a tool of Western geopolitical ambitions, and vowed that Russia's "special military operation" won’t end until its goals are achieved.

Those goals, stated on Feb. 24, 2022, the day Russian troops crossed the border, include the de-militarization of Ukraine and ensuring its "neutral status."

The U.N. General Assembly and the Security Council are marking the anniversary with ministerial meetings, which are taking place as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleads for more U.S. military aid and Russian forces make new gains in eastern Ukraine.

The General Assembly has become the most important U.N. body dealing with Ukraine because the Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, is paralyzed by Russia’s veto power. Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, unlike Security Council resolutions, but they serve as a barometer of world opinion.

Addressing the 193-member assembly, Kuleba recalled that over 140 nations supported resolutions backing Ukraine and calling for Russian forces to withdraw. But, he said, "Moscow’s aim is to destroy Ukraine and they’re quite outspoken about it."

He said countries now saying Ukraine should negotiate with Russia and end the war are either "ill-informed" or didn't follow events after 2014, when Russia seized Crimea and backed an armed rebellion in eastern Ukraine. The two countries, he said, held approximately 200 rounds of negotiations and made 20 cease-fire agreements.

"All of these peace efforts ended two years ago, when Russia tore apart the Minsk process and launched its full-scale invasion," Kuleba said. "Why would anyone suggest today that following the same logic will bring us to a different result?"

Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan is "the only serious peace proposal on the table," Kuleba said, calling on other countries to add their diplomatic weight to it. The plan calls for expelling Russian forces, establishing a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes and building a European-Atlantic security architecture with guarantees for Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters, Kuleba said he wanted to make one point clear. When Russia invaded, diplomats and experts didn't believe Ukraine would survive.

"Today, the same people do not believe that Ukraine can win this war," he said. "They turned wrong once, and they will turn wrong again. Ukraine survived the invasion. Ukraine will win the war. And if we act collectively and jointly this will happen … sooner rather than later."

Nebenzia slammed Zelenskyy's plan.

"It is nothing other than an ultimatum to Russia and an attempt to lure as many countries as possible into endless meetings on this utopian project at any price possible," he said.

At the General Assembly, where representatives of 64 countries are scheduled to speak, there was strong support for Ukraine.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he recognized that there is a sense of fatigue with the war and a compromise might seem attractive, but he said Russian President Vladimir Putin isn't seeking compromise.

"Rather, this is a neo-imperialist bully who believes might is right," he said. "If Putin were to eke out some kind of win, the rest of the world would suffer, too. What starts in Ukraine would not end there."

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told the assembly, "Only our resolve can deter the neo-imperial delusions that may arise in any part of the world."

"We need to stay the course until Mr. Putin understands that the days of European imperialism are gone for good," he said.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said at Ukraine’s request his government will organize a high-level peace conference by the summer. He invited all nations to attend and work "to find common ground for peace" based on the U.N. Charter, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

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