China needs to be involved in efforts to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, Switzerland's co-chair of a meeting of top diplomats to prepare the ground for a peace plan says.
"China plays a significant role. We must find ways to work with China on this," Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told a news conference after a session of the meeting.
China was not represented at the gathering of national security advisers ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The meeting of more than 80 officials is the fourth such gathering organised by Ukraine, which Cassis said must pave the way to talks between Russia and Ukraine on ending the war.
"A peace for the Ukrainian people is urgently necessary... We must do everything to end this war," Cassis said, adding that so far Russia and Ukraine were not willing to make concessions.
President Vladimir Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the biggest confrontation between Russia and the United States and its allies since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
Cassis said that countries that had a dialogue with Russia, such as Brazil, India and South Africa, were involved in the discussions in Davos and could play an important role.
"The participation of the BRICs alliance is very important because these countries have a relationship to Russia... All this can create this collective movement to bring in countries that are far from the conflict but can play a role in influencing China and Russia," Cassis said.
The role of the Global South in Ukraine's peace formula talks has come into focus in Davos.
Many of the non-aligned countries from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia that have largely stayed on the sidelines over Ukraine will be represented in the Swiss mountain resort this week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was not at Sunday's meeting.
But Cassis said he would appear at the summit and there would be opportunities for diplomats to speak to him.
Zelenskiy was represented by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak, who said there were participants from 18 Asian countries, 12 African countries and six South American countries.
"Countries from the Global South are increasingly involved in our work," Yermak said earlier on his Telegram account.
Ukraine, with strong backing from its allies, has consistently said it will not give up until it has reclaimed every piece of territory that Russia has taken.
It is unclear, however, if countries in the Global South agree with that as a peace formula.
Nigeria's national security adviser Nuhu Ribadu told Reuters that the African oil exporting country stood by Zelenskiy's side, saying it will deal with the consequences of rising food prices as a result of the war.
The talks were also attended by the US special representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker as well as James O'Brien, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
As concerns grow about ongoing US support for the war in Ukraine during an election year, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are both expected to address the WEF, which officially starts on Monday evening.
Zelenskiy's 10-point peace plan calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders with Russia.
Russia, which controls a little under a fifth of Ukrainian territory, has dismissed Zelenskiy's "peace formula" as absurd as it aims to find peace without Russian participation.
Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska said on Sunday there is unlikely to be peace in Ukraine until at least May 2025.
"It is a pity that a constructive talk about the situation in Ukraine will not happen - there will be no Russian delegation," Deripaska said in a post on the Telegram app.
