() – A two-day summit in Switzerland dedicated to forging a path to ending the war in Ukraine concluded with major powers rejecting a joint statement agreed to by more than 80 countries and international organizations.
India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, all of which have important trade relations with Russia as members of the BRICS economic group, attended the weekend meeting but did not agree to sign the joint statement.
The document reaffirmed the signatories’ commitment to “refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, the principles of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all States, including Ukraine, within of its internationally recognized borders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters at a press conference alongside the leaders of the European Union, Ghana, Canada, Chile and Switzerland that it was “important that all participants in this summit support the territorial integrity of Ukraine.” , because there will be no lasting peace without territorial integrity.”
More than 100 countries and organizations gathered at an idyllic lakeside resort near Lucerne to rally support for the 10-point peace plan that Zelensky first presented in late 2022.
This formula includes the cessation of hostilities, the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian soil and the restoration of Ukraine’s pre-war borders with Russia, conditions that the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin will probably never accept.
Among the high-level dignitaries in attendance were the leaders of Germany, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and Sweden.
US Vice President Kamala Harris also attended, taking the opportunity to announce a US$1.5 billion aid package that will go toward humanitarian spending and helping Kyiv rebuild its battered infrastructure.
“This high-level attendance proves one thing. “The world is deeply concerned about the war caused by Russian aggression,” declared the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Despite the strong presence of Western democracies, questions were raised before the meeting about what could be achieved, as neither Russia nor China, whose increasingly close trade relationship with Moscow has helped the Kremlin survive Western sanctions.
According to the statement published this Sunday, the signatories reached other agreements. These include the principle that Ukraine must be able to have its own nuclear power plants – including the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – and that the Kremlin must refrain from both the use and threat of use of nuclear weapons. The parties also stated that all illegally displaced children and civilians must be returned to Ukraine.
On Friday, a day before the start of the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed the Kremlin’s peace plan, which calls for the withdrawal of Ukrainian soldiers from four regions in the south and east of Ukrainian territory that Moscow said that it would annex in violation of international law and demands that Kyiv abandon its bid to join NATO.
Although Russian forces have made modest gains in two of the regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – in recent months, they are far from occupying all four, which include Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who traveled with Harris to Switzerland, told reporters at the summit that Putin’s framework “defies basic morality.”
“He (Putin) said, not only does Ukraine have to give up the territory Russia currently occupies, but Ukraine has to give up additional sovereign Ukrainian territory before Russia negotiates. And Ukraine must be disarmed to make it vulnerable to future Russian aggression. “No responsible nation could say that is a reasonable basis for peace,” Sullivan said.
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