Author: John Revell and Emma Futch
LUZERN, Switzerland (Reuters) – World leaders gathered in Switzerland on Saturday for a summit aimed at pressuring Russia to end its war in Ukraine, but the absence of Moscow’s powerful allies such as China will weaken its potential influence.
Dozens of Ukraine’s allies were due to attend the summit, but China refused to attend after Russia was blocked from the summit because Russia viewed the event as a waste of time and had no interest in attending.
Without China, hopes of isolating Moscow have faded, and the latest military reversal has put Kyiv in a difficult position. The war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas has also diverted attention from Ukraine.
Sources said the talks are expected to focus on broader issues raised by the war, such as food and nuclear security and freedom of navigation, with a final draft declaration identifying Russia as the aggressor in the conflict.
“This summit risks exposing the limits of Ukraine’s diplomacy,” said Richard Gowan, U.N. director of the International Crisis Group. “Nevertheless, it is also an opportunity for Ukraine to remind the world that it is defending the principles of the U.N. Charter.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would end its war in Ukraine only if Kiev agreed to abandon its NATO ambitions and hand over all four provinces claimed by Moscow. To surrender.
Putin’s conditions clearly reflect Moscow’s growing confidence that its military will have the upper hand in the war.
Moscow views its extraordinary military campaign in Ukraine as part of a broader struggle with the West, which it says wants to bring Russia to its knees. Kiev and Western countries deny this and accuse Russia of waging an illegal war of conquest.
Switzerland attended the summit at the request of Ukrainian President Zelensky, hoping to pave the way for a future peace process that would include Russia.
But geopolitical divisions over Europe’s worst conflict since World War II have dogged the event, with Zelensky even accusing Beijing of helping Moscow disrupt the gathering, a charge China’s foreign ministry denies.
China had said it would consider participating but ultimately declined because Russia would not participate.
Bernardino Regazzoni, former Swiss ambassador to China, said: “It is clear that from a geopolitical perspective, for China at the moment, the special relationship with Russia takes precedence over any other considerations.”
Some 90 countries and organizations have pledged to take part in the two-day conference, scheduled to be held in the mountaintop resort of Bürgenstock in central Switzerland. The summit will also have to deal with alternatives proposed by China.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will attend, along with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan. India, Türkiye and Hungary, which maintain friendly relations with Russia, are also expected to join.
Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in February 2022 and said the idea of holding a summit without Ukraine was “futile.”
Ukraine’s supporters are marking the Swiss talks with a series of events in the nearby city of Lucerne to draw attention to the humanitarian toll of the war and plan demonstrations calling for prisoners and children to be returned to Russia.
European officials privately acknowledged that the summit’s impact would be limited without the support of Moscow’s main allies.
“What does (Zelensky) get from this?” said former Swiss ambassador Daniel Walker. “Another small step forward in international solidarity with Ukraine as a victim of Russian aggression.”
