Watch Zelensky’s message for world peace that Fifa ‘refused to show’ ahead of World Cup final

Ukrainian president hoped to reach enormous global audience

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky called for a global peace summit this winter, in a video message Kyiv hoped would be shown before the World Cup final.

Officials in the Ukrainian government urged Fifa to show the clip, which showed Mr Zelensky calling to “unite all nations of the world”.

Posting the message on Twitter as Argentina and France prepared to clash in Qatar, Kyiv’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote that “there is still time for Fifa to show the video before the game that unites people and symbolises fairplay”.

The message added: “Don’t be afraid that the world will hear the words of peace.”

Mr Zelensky has since February led a country under invasion by neighbouring Russia. He has rallied support from nations around the world and at the G20 in November proposed a 10 point “Peace Formula” to end the war.

In Sunday’s clip, which was intended for the hundreds of millions of viewers tuning in for the final, Mr Zelensky said: “We offered Peace Formula to the world. Absolutely fair. We offered it because there are no champions in war, there can be no draw.”

“I announce the initiative to hold a Global Peace Formula Summit this winter. The summit to unite all nations of the world around the cause of global peace. Stadiums get empty after the match, and after the war cities remain empty,” he said.

CNN reported on Friday that the president had asked Fifa to let him share a message of peace before the final.

Fifa did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter that Fifa “shows a lack of understanding of the disaster that the Russian federation is dragging the world into by starting a war in Ukraine”.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded in February. A relentless assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has left millions of ordinary citizens facing a freezing winter with severely limited access to heat and electricity.

The Independent contacted Fifa for comment.