BERLIN - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed Germany's support for a Ukraine peace summit to be held in Switzerland in mid-June during a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, a government spokesperson in Berlin said on Wednesday.

"The chancellor confirmed his participation and reiterated that Germany actively supported the meeting. They agreed to work towards the broadest possible global participation," a statement from the spokesperson said.

The talks are due to be held on June 15-16 near the Swiss city of Lucerne.

Zelensky said that he briefed Scholz about the situation on the battlefield. He added on X that defence cooperation and the upcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin were also discussed.

Kyiv sees the summit as the next phase of a months-long diplomatic effort to find a fair end to Moscow's 26-month-old full-scale invasion, and it hopes to involve countries from around the world.

Switzerland has invited more than 160 delegations so far. Russia is not among those invited. The Kremlin has said the meeting is meaningless without Moscow's participation. REUTERS