Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next to a flag of his country, at the Ukraine Peace Summit, June 15, 2024, in Burgenstock, near Lucerne, Switzerland (POOL/AFP/ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE)
Avoiding a nuclear disaster in Ukraine, guaranteeing food security in the world and bringing back deported Ukrainian children are at the center of discussions on Sunday at the first peace summit in Ukraine, which wants to outline a plan to end the war.
More than two years after the Russian invasion, leaders and senior officials from more than 90 countries have the weekend at a swanky hotel complex in central Switzerland to brainstorm ways to end Europe’s biggest conflict since the Second World War. World War.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (d) and Swiss President Viola Amherd during the Ukraine Peace Summit on June 16, 2024 in Burgenstock, near Lucerne, Switzerland (POOL/AFP/URS FLUEELER)
On the first day of this first summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received strong support and expressed the hope of uniting the international community around a peace proposal that he could possibly present to Moscow.
“We must decide together what a just peace means for the world and how it can be achieved in a lasting way,” he said on Saturday.
The summit, snubbed by Russia and its Chinese ally, comes at a time when Ukraine is in military difficulty, but the call for surrender launched the day before the summit by President Vladimir Putin was sharply rejected by a majority. some participants.
(AFP/Ludovic MARIN)
The discussions are based on the points of Mr. Zelensky’s peace plan presented at the end of 2022 which there is consensus and the UN resolutions on the Russian invasion.
A restricted mandate which should allow the Ukrainian president to obtain a consensus, broader than that of his closest allies in the G7 or NATO.
The diplomatic success comes in addition to the release of American military aid, after months of procrastination, the authorization – under conditions – to strike the military in Russia, a loan of 50 billion dollars guaranteed by frozen Russian assets or another aid package of 1.5 billion dollars announced at the summit by American Vice-President Kamala Harris.
– Bring the children in –
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers a speech broadcast on screens during the Ukraine Peace Summit on June 15, 2024 in Burgenstock, near Lucerne, Switzerland (POOL/AFP/URS FLUEELER)
On Sunday, the delegations are divided into three working groups on concrete and pressing subjects: nuclear security, global food security in particular by ensuring freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.
The workshop devoted to humanitarian aspects will focus on issues related to prisoners of war and civilians and the fate of missing persons.
The repatriation of children taken from occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia will also be discussed.
“We have seen around 20,000 Ukrainian children taken from their families, their communities and their country. It is terrifying to say that, and how can the world turn its back?”, outraged the Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris.
“This is child theft and it is time for the international community to denounce it,” added the Taoiseach.
Ireland and 27 other countries are focusing on this aspect.
– Food safety –
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with European Council President Charles Michel during the Ukraine Peace Summit on June 16, 2024 in Burgenstock, near Lucerne, Switzerland (POOL/AFP/ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE)
Discussions on food security will focus on the crisis in agricultural production and exports, which created a food and inflationary shock at the start of the war, with Ukraine being one of the world’s grain baskets.
This working group includes countries victims of this shock such as Kenya but also Turkey, which played a crucial role in restoring a flow of grain in the first months of the conflict.
Discussions will focus not only on the destruction of fertile land, but also on the ongoing risks posed by mines and unexploded ordnance.
“Finding a political solution in Ukraine remains crucial to stabilize food prices on the global market,” Switzerland said.
The insecurity for maritime traffic in the Black Sea has contributed to increasing costs and it is therefore a question of finding ways to guarantee free and safe navigation there.
– Nuclear catastrophe –
The third workshop will focus on the security of Ukrainian nuclear power plants and especially that of Zaporizhia, the largest in Europe, occupied by the Russians.
For the French president, one of the priorities of the summit is to “secure the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky near an American flag during the Ukraine Peace Summit on June 15, 2024 in Burgenstock, near Lucerne, Switzerland (POOL/AFP/ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE)
“I am ready to participate in the debate on nuclear security because it really is a big threat to our security,” stressed Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.
A second peace summit is already being discussed. The Ukrainians had suggested that they saw Russia participating.
“The next conference should absolutely not take place without Russia. We must talk to the enemy,” said Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar, joined by Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Emmanuel Macron called for “expanding the circle of countries” around the discussion table.
But in the eyes of the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, Vladimir Putin “is not interested in peace”.
© 2024 AFP
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