Selenskyj speaks of success
Summit participants formulate demands on Russia
16.06.2024, 04:55
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The peace summit in Switzerland will not bring peace to Ukraine, that much is clear even before the event begins. Some of the participating countries would have preferred to see Kremlin representatives at the table. But first of all, the issue is to name Russia as the aggressor.
The first day of the Ukraine summit in Switzerland ended with the draft of a final declaration. It blames Russia for the war in Ukraine, which has caused great human suffering and destruction. Russia is urged to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity. It also demands that Kiev regain control of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and access to its ports on the Black and Azov Seas. All Ukrainian prisoners of war must be released and children deported from Ukraine must be returned to their homeland. A threat to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine in connection with the ongoing war is inadmissible.
Heads of state and government from more than 90 countries are trying to find a broader consensus for peace negotiations for Ukraine at the meeting. “Today is the day when the world begins to move closer to a just peace,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who described the summit as a success.
Some countries criticized Russia’s absence as an obstacle to progress. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said that credible talks would require difficult compromises. Saudi Arabia, along with Turkey, is being discussed as a possible host of a follow-up conference, which Russia could then also attend. Neither country fell out with the Kremlin after the war began. It is not clear when such a conference could take place. “We are still a long way from that,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz before the summit began. The peace process is a delicate plant that now needs watering.
The calls for Russia to participate in the negotiations are getting louder over time, said Bob Deen of the Dutch think tank Clingendael Institute. “There is a risk that competing events will emerge if Ukraine waits too long. It could risk losing the initiative,” said Deen at a forum on the sidelines of the summit. Russia was not invited to the summit.
Russia’s friends are holding back
The Swiss hosts, however, tried to get as many countries friendly to Russia to the table as possible. The result is sobering. Russia’s most important ally, China, has completely cancelled. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the long journey to Europe to attend the G7 summit on Friday. However, they skipped the Swiss conference that followed immediately afterwards. Brazil is now only attending as an observer, and according to the list of participants, India only sent a state secretary from the foreign ministry. The national security advisor is attending for South Africa.
Serious efforts to find a peace solution between Russia and Ukraine have only been made shortly after the invasion in 2022. Before the Swiss conference, the US newspaper “New York Times” published the draft agreements at the time. Russian President Vladimir Putin tried on Friday to present them as an agreement ready for signature. According to the documents, Ukraine was prepared at the time to forego joining NATO and to remain non-aligned. The question of the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia was to be postponed. But Moscow tried to undermine the security guarantees hoped for by Kiev from other countries such as the USA. According to the “New York Times”, several contemporary historians have come to the conclusion in recent months that both sides were still far from reaching an agreement in 2022.