Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky played the lead role at a peace conference in Switzerland on Saturday aimed at building support for Ukraine’s negotiating positions in its war with Russia with the support of as many nations as possible.
But some countries questioned the value of peace talks that did not involve negotiations between the warring parties.
“There is no Russia here,” Mr. Zelensky said, explaining to dozens of world leaders gathered at an Alpine resort why Russia had not been invited to the meeting. “Why? Because if Russia wanted peace, there would be no war.”
The two-day conference, attended by Vice President Kamala Harris, emerged as Mr. Zelensky’s highest-profile effort to rally countries beyond Europe and North America to his vision for ending the war: a peace plan that would involve Russia’s withdrawal. from all over Ukraine, paying reparations and being brought to justice for war crimes.
Ahead of the long-awaited meeting – which Switzerland said would bring together 57 heads of state and government – many non-Western countries were hesitant to support Mr Zelensky’s peace plan in full. Mr Zelensky and the Swiss hosts of the summit therefore decided to focus on three elements around which they hoped to find broad common ground: nuclear security, food security and humanitarian issues such as the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children illegally taken to Russia.
“I am here to stand with Ukraine and world leaders for a just and lasting peace,” Ms. Harris said at the start of a meeting with Mr. Zelensky before the broader summit. “The United States is committed to helping Ukraine rebuild. »
However, as soon as the summit opened, as world leaders took turns speaking, Russia’s absence quickly became a flashpoint. Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, told the meeting at the resort of Bürgenstock near Lucerne that “any credible process will require Russia’s participation.”
Later, Hakan Fidan, the Turkish Foreign Minister, said: “This summit could have been more results-oriented if the other party to the conflict – Russia – was present in the room. »
Viola Amherd, the Swiss president, acknowledged that “a peace process without Russia is inconceivable.” She added that the conference would also address “how and under what conditions Russia can be included in this process.”
The meeting will continue on Sunday. Any resulting joint statement will be closely scrutinized for clues about the direction of future negotiations and Russia’s involvement.
China – the country widely seen as having the most influence over Russia – did not attend the conference. Brazil did not send a high-level delegation. Both countries support their own negotiating proposals, insisting that Russia and Ukraine must negotiate directly.
“You don’t negotiate with your friends,” Celso Amorim, top foreign policy adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said in an interview. “You negotiate with your adversaries.”
Mr. Amorim, who was in Geneva near a United Nations trade conference, added that peace talks without Russia’s participation were futile.
“I am not defending one side or the other, but for my part I am very clear that nothing will come of this meeting in Switzerland,” he said. “I respect the intentions, but it is obvious that nothing will happen.”
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine’s intention was to negotiate collectively with Russia – after establishing consensus between kyiv’s allies and as many neutral nations as possible. He said on Saturday that once these countries had agreed on an “action plan” to end the war, “this would be communicated to the representatives of Russia” at a second conference to which she would be invited.
“At the second peace summit, we will be able to determine the true end of the war,” Zelensky said. “Now we begin this journey together. »
Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters at the summit that Ukraine had indicated that “this war must ultimately end through negotiations.” But he said Mr. Zelensky was currently focused on crafting unified peace principles with allies rather than specifying conditions to bring Russia to the negotiating table.
“There is no secret conversation in which he has a plan to end the war,” Mr. Sullivan said.
Russian President Vladimir V. Putin on Friday proposed his own ceasefire plan, calling on Ukraine to cede its territory and Western countries to lift their economic sanctions. Ukraine and its allies denounced Mr. Putin’s suggestion, saying it was aimed at undermining this weekend’s negotiations.
“He is not calling for negotiations,” Ms. Harris said at the summit. “He calls for surrender.”
President Biden, who has already visited Europe twice in recent weeks, to a D-Day memorial And a Group of 7 summitskipped the rally.
Entering the conference, Ms. Harris echoed Mr. Zelensky’s agenda by announcing that the United States would provide $500 million in new funding to repair Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. She also said the United States would provide $379 million for refugees and displaced people in Ukraine.
At the summit, Harris called on leaders to “commit to the imperative return of innocent children kidnapped by Russia to their homes.”
Ms. Harris returns to Washington on Saturday evening, but Mr. Sullivan said he would stay to strategize on practical solutions to support Ukraine’s nuclear, energy and food security.
Mr. Sullivan criticized China for not attending the summit, although he could not confirm Mr. Zelensky’s claims that Beijing had discouraged other countries from joining the peace conference.
China said 45 countries had “responded positively” to the Brazilian and Chinese negotiation proposal, without naming the countries. Mr. Amorim, Brazil’s presidential adviser, said he had no specific information on how many or which countries supported the proposal, but that the participation of China, as the country with the most influence on Russia, was essential.
Oleksii Polegkyi, academic director of the Center for Public Diplomacy in Ukraine, said in an interview on Ukrainian television on Thursday that kyiv’s strategy for the summit could end up being a diplomatic misstep.
The meeting could end without a declaration affirming Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders, he said, and the absence of such a declaration could lay the groundwork for concessions on the territory as part of a possible settlement before getting anything from Russia in return.
In any case, Polegkyi said, “our expectations for this summit may be somewhat exaggerated, because peace will not be achieved through summits.”
But Maria Zolkina, director of conflict studies at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, a nongovernmental group, said the gathering’s value for Ukraine was broader than just a formal effort to build support for the three points of the Kiev peace plan.
The effort helps promote Ukraine’s vision of a post-war order in Eastern Europe that would prevent future Russian expansionism, she said, adding that Ukraine wanted to rally support for negotiations according to its conditions, “and not based on Chinese, Russian or anyone else’s proposals”. »
Maria Varenikova contributed to reporting from Kyiv, Jack Nicas from Rio de Janeiro, and Safak Timur from Istanbul. Anastasia Kuznietsova also contributed to the reporting.
