Participation in the Swiss peace conference was confirmed by more than 90 countries out of 160 invited, with some of them not endorsing the final document, showing the disappointing results of the meeting.
The peace summit on Ukraine took place in the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock on 15-16 June. However, the outcome document of the meeting was not backed by Armenia, Bahrain, Brazil, Vatican City, India, Indonesia, Libya, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The organisers did not invite Russia, a key player in the conflict in Ukraine, but at the last minute allowed Russian journalists to attend.
Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Vietnam, Laos, Mongolia, Cambodia, Burma, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Haiti, Bolivia, and Paraguay did not attend the conference alongside China.
Participation issues
Furthermore, many countries were represented at a not high level. For example, the former ambassador of India to the Russian Federation represented the country. Brazil attended the summit as an observer. Moreover, Colombian President Gustavo Petro also refused to participate. He announced that the conference was not aiding the peace process.
US Vice President Kamala Harris, who arrived at the summit instead of President Joe Biden, left the conference early. In her place, Jake Sullivan, the US president’s national security adviser, stayed at the event. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also left the summit before its conclusion due to scheduled meetings in Berlin.
Some experts believe that peace statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin broke the course of the international conference, influencing the early departure of some participants.
Criticising the process
Many summit attendees were rather critical of the initiatives proposed at the meeting. Earlier, they also doubted the success of the event without the participation of such key figures, as Russia and China.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer stated that some countries had problems with the wording of the final declaration of the Ukrainian conference.
Steffen Kotré, a member of the German parliament from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, said that the peace summit on Ukraine could not produce any results, as Russia did not take part in it.
The conference could not bring any results, as Russia did not take part in it. The United States and its allies assure Ukraine again and again that they support it and will supply it with weapons. (…) In three weeks, no one will even remember about this conference.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, stated that support for the outcome document by Russia’s allies would not spoil relations with Moscow. Russian Senator Alexey Pushkov also noted that although the participation of 92 countries in the summit is being presented as a success, the refusal of some of them to sign the final declaration suggests the opposite.
This shows that a number of countries came to Switzerland to participate but not to support the Western approach. And there is a big difference between participation and support.
Deceptive success
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to bring attention back to Ukraine, as the global community switched its focus to the Middle East conflict and the results of the European Parliament elections, according to Euronews.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba revealed that Russian representatives would be invited to the next summit to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.
The idea is that the next summit should be the end of the war. And, of course, we need the other party at the negotiating table. It’s obvious that both sides are needed to end the war, our job is [to ensure] that Ukraine is in the strongest position at this time.
Witnessing the disappointing outcome of the conference, Swiss President Viola Amherd announced that Putin would be able to attend a possible next peace summit on Ukraine in Switzerland, despite the ICC having issued a warrant for his arrest.
Russian response
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that the Swiss summit was not a success, comparing it to George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”
Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma (Russian parliament) Committee on International Affairs and leader of the LDPR party, also stated that the conference in Switzerland was “meaningless” without Russia’s participation.
The conference in Switzerland predictably failed. The ‘peace summit’ had nothing to do with peace. All its decisions in the absence of Russia are simply meaningless, the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is still not even an inch closer. As long as Western leaders reject reasonable peace initiatives in the spirit of double standards, the proxy war ‘to the last Ukrainian’ will continue.
