Biden & Harris set to skip Swiss ‘Ukrainian summit’ for Hollywood fundraiser

President Joe Biden will likely miss a Ukraine summit next month because it conflicts with a campaign fundraiser in California he’s set to attend alongside George Clooney, Julia Roberts and other stars, Bloomberg informs.

Switzerland scheduled the conference for June 15-16, after a meeting of the Group of Seven in Italy. Several G-7 leaders plan to join but neither Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris (photo) are scheduled to be there, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing private deliberations. President Vladimir Putin wasn’t invited and leaders from other nations are also planning to skip.

Biden is scheduled to fly from the G-7 meeting in southern Italy to Los Angeles for the June 15 fundraiser. Along with Clooney and Roberts, former President Barack Obama and late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel are set to join him.

The decision underscores how Biden is further shifting into campaign mode as he looks to overcome former President Donald Trump’s polling lead in key swing states ahead of the November election. Adding to the urgency, Trump eclipsed Biden’s fundraising efforts for the first time in the current election cycle last month, raising $76 million to his $51 million.

It also reflects a broader pessimism about the conference

The absence of China is likely to disappoint Zelenskiy. Beijing has long been seen as crucial to the process given its close relationship with Moscow, but it has so far skipped most meetings leading up to the summit.

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