The nations meet on Lake Lucerne to discuss how to help Kiev. The outcome, however, is not expected to include a ceasefire. Russia was not invited, which is why Lula is not participating. China is also missing. More than 90 countries have confirmed their participation in the summit organized by Switzerland at the request of Kiev to discuss ways towards peace in Ukraine. The event will take place this Saturday (15/06) and Sunday in the Bürgenstock hotel complex near Lake Lucerne. For Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski, the event represents the culmination of a diplomatic marathon.
According to Swiss President Viola Amherd, half of the participating countries come from Europe and North America. The second half is made up of countries from the Global South: South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
According to Amherd, many governments thanked Switzerland for hosting the conference. For her it is a “broad process”, to create the conditions “for a future peace conference with the participation of Russia”.
Moscow was not invited. For this reason, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is in Europe for the G7 meeting, refused to attend in person. Brazil will instead send its ambassador to Bern.
Another misappropriation is that of China. Despite Germany’s efforts to convince it to participate, Beijing also sent its refusal to Switzerland. Lula insists that behind the event there must be a sealed project between Brazil and China, which provides for the Kremlin’s participation in the peace negotiations.
Reconstruction of Ukraine
This week, at an event in Berlin for the reconstruction of Ukraine, German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he hoped that with the peace conference “something will emerge that brings us closer to peace.” Zelenskiy joined. For the Ukrainian, the fact that the conference organized by Switzerland is taking place is already a success.
“It is very difficult not to lose allies and partner countries. And uniting countries that are partners and non-partners is a difficult task for Ukraine,” Zelensky said, reflecting on more than two years since Russia’s major invasion.
Scholz, alongside Zelenskyj in Berlin, added that perhaps in Switzerland “the way could be shown to successfully enter a process in which one day, when the time comes, Russia will also be at the table”. But he stressed that the decision on whether or not Moscow will participate in the debate lies exclusively with Ukraine.
Pressure from Russia in the Global South
At the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 (URC2024) in Berlin, the European Union promised loans to support Ukrainian small and medium-sized businesses, as well as funds for emergency repairs to electricity and heat supplies. Brussels extends loans to Ukraine, which in turn are repaid from interest income on Russian assets frozen in Europe.
In Berlin, Zelenskyj also spoke in person for the first time at the Bundestag (the lower house of the German parliament) and shortly afterwards visited Ukrainian soldiers who are being trained by the Bundeswehr (the German armed forces) to use the Patriot air defense system .
In a busy week for international diplomacy, URC2024 was followed by the meeting of the world’s seven largest industrialized countries, the G7, in Italy, with the hope that as many heads of state and government as possible would travel to there at the conference in Switzerland.
Behind the scenes, Russia allegedly exerted pressure, especially on countries in the Global South, to boycott the Swiss conference. This is also why the Swiss organizers consider the presence of 90 nations a partial success. Apparently this was also possible because the agenda to be discussed was significantly reduced.
No ceasefire
The summit in Switzerland is not expected to result in a peace settlement or ceasefire agreement. The discussions will focus on the safety of Ukrainian nuclear power plants. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhia, is occupied by Russian soldiers on the front lines in southern Ukraine.
Furthermore, there will be discussions on how to further secure Ukraine’s grain exports, especially to countries in the Global South, and the release of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia in the occupied territories.
The final declaration of the conference should not include the immediate cessation of the Russian war of aggression nor Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine, as envisaged in the current peace plan formulated by Kiev.
According to Zelenski, in order to protect at least all the large cities and the most important energy plants, his country would need a total of seven Patriot anti-aircraft systems. Germany promised a third system weeks ago, but many of the German government’s requests to allies for additional equipment have gone unanswered.
On the sidelines of URC2024, the Ukrainian president said that “Germany is a leader in supporting Ukraine, protecting its airspace with Patriot systems.”
US media reported that US President Joe Biden wants to hand over another US Patriot military facility to Ukraine. Apparently it is one of the Patriot systems currently protecting southeastern Poland, on the border with Ukraine. The system guards the Rzeszów regional airport, which has become the most important hub for Western military aid to Ukraine.
Russia presents conditions for negotiating peace
Zelenskiy, alongside Scholz in Berlin, said that “today there is a new air defense solution and not just the Patriot,” but gave no details.
With another Patriot system from Germany and the United States, there would be five in total in Ukraine, of the planned seven. Additionally, the first Western F-16 fighter jets are expected to be deployed by the Ukrainian Air Force this summer.
For Zelenskiy, as fundamental to the country’s survival as anti-aircraft defense, the reconstruction of Ukraine and, ultimately, the first “high-level peace conference in Switzerland”, is that his country “does not lose the initiative”. According to him, this initiative cannot be “given to anyone, not even Russia.”
This Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again spoke about the conditions for negotiating peace with Ukraine: the withdrawal of troops from four regions partially occupied by Moscow, Kiev’s withdrawal from membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the extinction of all financial sanctions imposed by the West.
On the other hand, Zelensky has a ten-point peace plan, which calls for the total withdrawal of Russian troops from internationally recognized Ukrainian territory – including the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014 – as well as the creation of a special court for peace. war crimes investigations.
Source: Terra
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