WASHINGTON — President Biden will send Vice President Kamala Harris to a Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland, rejecting a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Biden to skip a Hollywood fundraiser starring actor George Clooney to bolster Kyiv’s position.
“Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Lucerne, Switzerland on June 15 to attend the Ukraine Peace Summit,” Harris spokeswoman Kirsten Allen said Monday.
“Harris will underscore the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to supporting Ukraine’s efforts to secure a just and lasting peace based on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the principles of the UN Charter,” Allen added.
The statement said National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan “will represent the United States at the summit alongside the Vice President,” suggesting the 81-year-old president would skip the meeting.
Last week, Biden ignored a reporter’s shouted question about Zelensky’s appearance request. Bloomberg News reported. Biden is not planning a visit to Europe because it would overlap with a Hollywood event that will also feature actress Julia Roberts and former President Barack Obama.
Zelensky pressed Biden hard Trump set aside a star-studded schedule for the visit, saying last week that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be ecstatic if the U.S. leader didn’t show up.
Zelensky said Biden’s absence “will be praised only by President Putin, and personally praised by President Putin himself, and there will be a standing ovation.”
The president already has plans to visit Europe later this week to mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, and will also attend part of the G7 summit in southern Italy from June 13-15, spurring speculation he may stop in Switzerland or visit Zelensky at some point.
The Russia-Ukraine war broke out in February 2022, less than a week before Biden sent Harris to attend the annual Munich Security Conference in his place.
Speaking in Germany, Harris sought to dissuade Putin from attacking, warning of “swift, tough and unified economic measures”.
Former President Donald Trump has vowed to personally negotiate an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine if he beats Biden in a Nov. 5 rematch.
