Thousands of people have been evacuated from border areas in Ukraine's Kharkiv region
Ukraine has evacuated around 8,800 people from the northeastern Kharkiv border area since Russia launched a major assault. AFP

The federal government has not yet decided whether to attend the peace summit in mid-June to be held in Switzerland on Ukraine war, deputy secretary Graham Fletcher told a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday.

"The invitation has been received and it's under consideration," Fletcher said. "An announcement will be made in due course."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday tweeted that he had discussed about the peace summit with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. While appreciating Australia's willingness to attend the summit, Zelenskyy stated that there was a need for more nations to participate. He added that he also informed Albanese about Russia's intention to keep the war going in Ukraine and the "pressing defense needs to counter the aggressor."

European Union ambassadors and members have issued a separate invite to Australia. The invitation to attend the peace summit has been sent out to high-level ministers, chiefly the prime minister, deputy prime minister and foreign minister, AAP reported.

Ukrainian ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko also requested Albanese or a high-level minister to attend the summit.

"Australia has a voice of reason in the international community that goes back in history," he said. "The Australian voice needs to be present in a definitive way at the summit for peace in Switzerland, which is best achieved by a cabinet minister who is a member of the National Security Committee."

The Guardian reported that more than 160 delegations, including members of the G7, G20, the EU, the Council of Europe and the UN, have been invited to the summit.

Zelenskyy said he looked forward to the presence of China and Brazil. "Believe me every voice is important," he stated.

Zelenskyy wanted to organize a peace summit to secure "a just and lasting peace." However, Russia has been excluded from the summit.

Supporting Australia's presence at the summit, coalition foreign spokesman Simon Birmingham said, "I appreciate sometimes competing demands on the prime minister's time and scheduling of matters but this should be a senior cabinet representation at a meeting as significant as the Ukraine peace summit. Other significant world leaders have already made their commitments and it seems remarkable that Australia is so slow to have made a decision on our position."

During a visit to Ukraine in April, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles pledged AU$100 million taking Australia's contribution to more than $1 billion, since the war.

Russia launched a series of attack on Ukraine's border city Kharkiv, killing 18 persons, in recent weeks.