Ukraine Summit Sees Difficult Road to Peace as Uncertain Way Forward

Western powers and their allies, at a summit in Switzerland, denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Sunday, but failed to persuade major non-aligned states to adhere to their final declaration, and no country came forward to host a follow-up.

More than 90 countries took part in the two-day talks at a resort in the Swiss Alps at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, billed as a “peace summit”, although Moscow was not invited.

Russia ridiculed the event from afar. China’s decision to stay away virtually guaranteed that the summit would fail to achieve Ukraine’s goal of persuading key countries in the “global South” to join in isolating Russia.

Brazil only attended as an “observer”. And in the end, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and South Africa withdrew their signatures on the summit communiqué, although some controversial issues were omitted in the hope of gaining broader support.

Still, the conference provided Kiev with the opportunity to show the support from Western allies it says is needed to continue fighting a much larger enemy.

“We are responding to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine not only with a full-scale defense of human life, but also with full-scale diplomacy,” Zelenskiy said.

Leaders including US Vice President Kamala Harris, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron gathered at the mountaintop resort of Buergenstock. US President Joe Biden, who was in Europe for other events last week, did not attend despite public invitations from Zelenskiy.

The front lines in Ukraine have barely moved since late 2022, despite tens of thousands of deaths on both sides in relentless trench warfare, the bloodiest fighting in Europe since World War Two.

In her closing remarks, Swiss President Viola Amherd warned that “the road ahead is long and challenging”.

Russia, as it has done for weeks, mocked the meeting.

“None of the participants in the ‘peace forum’ know what they are doing there and what their role is,” said Dmitry Medvedev, former president of Russia and now vice-president of the country’s Security Council.

‘Things can’t go on like this’

After Ukraine’s initial successes, which allowed Kiev to repel an attack on the capital and recapture territory in the first year of the war, a major Ukrainian counteroffensive using donated Western tanks failed last year. Russian forces still hold a fifth of Ukraine and are advancing again, albeit slowly. No peace talks have been held for more than two years.

“We know that peace in Ukraine will not be achieved in one step, it will be a journey”, said the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, calling for “patience and determination”.

“It was not a peace negotiation because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is not serious about ending the war, he is insisting on capitulation, he is insisting on ceding Ukrainian territory – even territory that is not occupied today.”

In the absence of a clear path to ending the war, Zelenskiy has emphasized practical issues such as nuclear safety and securing food supplies for Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters.

The summit’s final declaration called for the restoration of Ukraine’s control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and its ports on the Sea of ​​Azov. But in line with the conference’s more modest stated goals, it omitted more difficult questions about what a post-war settlement for Ukraine would look like, whether Ukraine could join the NATO alliance, or how troop withdrawals on both sides might work. .

“The more allies that are found to say ‘Things can’t go on like this’, ‘This is too much’, ‘This is overstepping’, this also increases the moral pressure on the Russian Federation,” the Austrian chancellor said. Carlos Nehammer.

As Sunday’s talks turned to issues of food security and nuclear energy, some leaders left early.

No country has come forward to host another meeting of this type, with notable silence from Saudi Arabia, considered a possible future location. Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said the kingdom was ready to help with the peace process, but a viable agreement would depend on a “difficult compromise”.

Since the initial peace talks, in the first months after the February 2022 invasion, Ukraine has consistently demanded that Russia withdraw from all its lands, while Moscow has demanded recognition of its rule over the territory its forces captured. .

Last week, in statements clearly aimed at the conference, Putin said Russia would not stop the war until Kiev fully withdrew its forces from four provinces that Moscow only partially controls and claims to have annexed. Kiev quickly denounced this as a demand to surrender.

“Of course, we fully understand that there will come a time when it will be necessary to talk with Russia,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. “But our position is very clear: we will not allow Russia to speak in the language of ultimatums as it is speaking now.”

Western leaders at the summit endorsed Kiev’s refusal to negotiate on such terms.

“Confusing peace with subjugation would set a dangerous precedent for everyone,” said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

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