US President Joe Biden is likely to skip the Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland on June 15-16, as it coincides with a campaign fundraiser in California, which he is going to attend with George Clooney, Julia Roberts and other stars. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing sources, UNN reports .
Details
Switzerland has scheduled the conference for June 15-16 after the G7 meeting in Italy. Several G7 leaders are planning to attend, but neither Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to be there, sources say.
Biden is scheduled to fly from the G7 meeting in southern Italy to Los Angeles for a fundraiser on June 15. Along with Clooney and Roberts, he is to be joined by former President Barack Obama and late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel.
The decision underscores how Biden continues to shift into campaign mode as he seeks to surpass former President Donald Trump's lead in polls in key swing states ahead of the November election. Adding to the urgency, last month Trump eclipsed Biden's fundraising efforts in the current election cycle for the first time, raising $76 million to Biden's $51 million,
According to Bloomberg, this reflects wider pessimism about the conference, which Switzerland agreed to host when President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the country in January. Nevertheless, some 70 countries will attend the summit at some level, including leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is likely to attend as well.
Addendum
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said during a briefing on May 22 that US President Joe Biden's participation in the Ukraine Peace Summit, which will be held in Switzerland on June 15-16, remains uncertain, as the White House has not yet confirmed whether he will attend the event.
On May 17, the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, reported that the Chinese side does not speak or give an assessment of its possible participation in the Peace Summit. Ukraine continues to work on engaging China, as it is very important that it be present at the highest level.