BÜRGENSTOCK, Switzerland — Kyiv managed to get the majority of participants at this weekend’s Ukraine peace summit on board with its 10-point peace formula as the main framework for further negotiations.
But the outcome was marred by key Russia-leaning countries such as Saudi Arabia, India and South Africa not supporting the final declaration. And China snubbed the summit altogether.
Still, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared the conference a success, saying that the “independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine were recognized by all participants” at the summit. “The majority of the world,” he added.
Although the peace summit on Ukraine looked more like another U.N. General Assembly, where different countries talked about the U.N. Charter and respect for international law, the participants reached a consensus that war in Ukraine must end with a “just and lasting peace,” not peace at any cost.
But Russia’s ghost loomed over the summit, after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ultimatum of a peace proposal the day before the summit started. While that was quickly rejected by Ukraine and others, it reinforced the reality that the Kremlin eventually will have to be dealt with.
For Kyiv, the peace conference represented a step toward building a coalition of intermediaries to help develop a platform to confront Moscow from a position of strength.
“Now it is time for a series of bilateral meetings around the world which in the end will bring a common concrete plan for actions towards peace,” Zelenskyy said.
In the end, 82 out of the 101 participants in Bürgenstock supported the final communique that defined Ukraine’s peace formula as the main framework for further negotiations to eventually bring peace to Ukraine, based on mutual respect for international law and the U.N. Charter.
The focus at this summit was on only three points of Zelenskyy 10-point peace proposal, as they had broad consensus among the participating countries. Those were nuclear safety, food security, and the return of prisoners of war and abducted Ukrainian children and civilians.
“This summit is a tremendous success,” U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan declared in a speech on Sunday. “You’ve managed to gather the whole world.” Sullivan and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris represented Washington at the summit, as President Joe Biden skipped the conference due to campaign events.
The summit kept the details vague in terms of deadlines and plans for the next meetings.
“Peace will be a journey,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “These were not peace negotiations, because Putin is not serious about ending the war. He is insisting on capitulation. No country would ever accept these outrageous terms,” she said.
Zelenskyy said Putin’s ultimatum the day before the summit started actually played in Kyiv’s favor. “Some of the [countries] changed their mind after his ultimatum. The enemy’s mistakes are also a success for us,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy still insists that Ukraine would talk to Russia only after Moscow withdraws its troops, he said at the final presser on Sunday. But he said the Ukrainians are planning to involve Russia-friendly countries as intermediaries to help to push Moscow for peace.
“We need the support of the vast majority of the world to put pressure on Russia to end this war,” Zelenskyy said.
Much of the Global South, Latin America and Africa supported the final communique and agreed to help Ukraine during the series of meetings on bilateral level that are planned ahead of the next summit, the date of which is not yet settled.
“Unfortunately, Russia’s influence is still strong. Many countries are still trying to balance even after all the terrorism Putin brought to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “Putin understood he can’t get out of isolation, so his goal is to bring other countries on his side. However, he’s fighting only for himself.”
Russia’s ghost loomed over Ukraine peace summit
Source: Viral Showbiz Pinay
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