Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took a starring role on Saturday at a peace conference in Switzerland aimed at rallying support from as many countries as possible for Ukraine’s negotiating position in its war with Russia.
But some countries question the value of peace talks without negotiations between the warring sides.
“There is no Russia here,” Zelensky told dozens of world leaders gathered at the Alpine resort why Russia was not invited to the meeting. “Why? Because if Russia was interested in peace, there would be no war.
The two-day meeting, attended by Vice President Kamala Harris, was Mr Zelensky’s most high-profile effort to get countries beyond Europe and North America to support his vision of ending the war: a The peace plan involves people from across Ukraine withdrawing their troops, paying compensation and being tried for war crimes.
Ahead of the long-awaited meeting – which Switzerland said would be attended by 57 heads of state and government – many non-Western countries were hesitant to back Zelensky’s comprehensive peace plan. Therefore, Zelensky and the summit host Switzerland decided to focus on three issues in the hope of finding broad common ground around them: nuclear security, food security, and humanitarian issues such as the exchange of prisoners of war and the repatriation of Ukrainian children illegally brought to Russia. doctrine issue.
“I am here to stand with leaders in Ukraine and around the world in support of a just and lasting peace,” Ms Harris said during a meeting with Zelensky ahead of the big summit. “The United States is committed to helping Ukraine rebuild.”
However, as the summit opened and world leaders took turns speaking, Russia’s absence quickly became a flashpoint. “Any credible process requires Russia’s participation,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a gathering at the resort of Bürgenstock near Lucerne.
Later, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that “the summit could have been more results-oriented if the other side of the conflict – Russia – was present.”
Swiss President Viola Armheld admitted that “the peace process without Russia is unthinkable”. She added that the meeting would also discuss “how and under what conditions Russia can participate in this process”.
The meeting will continue on Sunday. Any resulting joint statement will be closely watched for hints on the future direction of negotiations and Russian involvement.
China – widely considered the country with the greatest influence over Russia – did not attend the meeting. Brazil did not send a high-level delegation. Both countries have backed their proposals for talks, insisting that Russia and Ukraine need to negotiate directly.
“You don’t negotiate with your friends,” Celso Amorim, chief foreign policy adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said in an interview. “You negotiate with your opponent.”
Amorim, who is attending a United Nations trade conference in nearby Geneva, added that peace talks that did not involve Russia were futile.
“I’m not defending one side or the other, but I know very well that nothing will come of this meeting in Switzerland,” he said. “I respect the intentions, but it’s clear nothing is going to happen.”
Zelensky said Ukraine’s aim is to enter into collective negotiations with Russia after reaching consensus among Kyiv’s allies and as many neutral countries as possible. He said on Saturday that once the countries agreed on an “action plan” to end the war, “the plan will be communicated to Russian representatives at a second meeting” and Russia will be invited to participate.
“At the second peace summit we can truly end the war,” Zelensky said. “Now, we are starting this path together.”
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the summit that Ukraine has said “this war must ultimately end in negotiations.” But he said Zelensky’s current focus was on developing unifying principles for peace with allies rather than specifying the conditions for bringing Russia to the negotiating table.
“He did not have any secret conversations to develop a blueprint for ending the war,” Mr. Sullivan said.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin proposed his own cease-fire plan, calling on Ukraine to cede territory and for Western countries to lift economic sanctions. Ukraine and its allies denounced Putin’s suggestion as an attempt to derail this weekend’s talks.
“He is not calling for negotiations,” Ms Harris said at the summit. “He is calling for surrender.”
President Biden, who has traveled to Europe twice in recent weeks for D-Day commemorations and the G7 summit, did not attend the gathering.
Ms. Harris entered the meeting echoing Zelensky’s agenda, announcing that the United States would provide $500 million in new funding to repair Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. She also said the United States would provide $379 million for refugees and displaced persons in Ukraine.
At the summit, Harris called on leaders to “commit to returning the innocent children abducted by Russia to their homes.”
Harris will return to Washington on Saturday night, but Sullivan said he would continue to develop strategies for practical solutions to support Ukraine’s nuclear, energy and food security.
Sullivan criticized China for not participating in the summit, although he could not confirm Zelensky’s assertion that Beijing was preventing other countries from participating in the peace conference.
China said 45 countries had “responded positively” to Brazil and China’s proposal for talks, but did not identify specific countries. Brazilian presidential adviser Amorim said he did not know how many or which countries supported the proposal, but that China’s participation as the country with the greatest influence on Russia was key.
Oleksiy Polegki, academic director of the Ukrainian Center for Public Diplomacy, said in an interview with Ukrainian TV News on Thursday that the Kyiv summit strategy could end up being a diplomatic blunder.
He said the meeting could end without a statement confirming Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders, and that the lack of such a statement could set the stage for territorial concessions in a final settlement before demanding anything in return from Russia. .
In any case, Mr. Polegki said, “Our expectations for this summit may be a little too high, because peace will not come through a summit.”
But Maria Zolkina, director of conflict studies at the NGO Democracy Initiative Foundation, said the gathering’s value to Ukraine was broader than just a formal effort to support Kyiv’s three-point peace plan.
She said the effort could help advance Ukraine’s vision of a postwar order in Eastern Europe that would prevent future Russian expansionism. Proposals from Russia or other countries began.
Maria Valennikova Contributing reporting from Kyiv, Jack Nickas from Rio de Janeiro, and Shafaq Timur From Istanbul. Anastasia Kuznetsova Also contributed reporting.
