A total of 92 countries, including almost 60 heads of state and government, will participate in the Ukraine peace conference in Bürgenstock (NW). Among them are members of the G7 and G20, the European Union, three international organizations (UN, OSCE and Council of Europe), as well as two representatives of the religious world (the Vatican and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople). However, no NGO was invited.
>> More details: More than 160 delegations invited by Switzerland to the conference on peace in Ukraine
56 Western heads of state and government
The list published on Friday by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) includes nearly fifty Western countries. In total, 56 heads of state and government, plus the vice-president American Kamala Harris, will be welcomed by the President of the Confederation Viola Amherd and Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis.
In addition to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, some of the world’s main leaders are expected to be present, such as the Chancellor German Olaf Scholz, Prime Minister Japanese Fumio Kishida or the President French Emmanuel Macron. There Türkiyemediator between kyiv and Moscow, will also be present.
As recently as Thursday, sources close to the matter said that the delegation British would be led by Foreign Secretary David Cameron. Now, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in difficulty a few weeks before the elections in his country, is announced.
Not all EU members will be represented at the level of heads of state and government. Close to Russia, Hungary And Slovakia will only send their heads of diplomacy. As Romania. On the other hand, the president of European Council Charles Michel, that of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and that of European Parliament Roberta Metsola will be there.
Among the so-called countries of the South, there are several African presidents such as the Ivorian Alassane Ouattara, the Ghanaian Nana Akufo-Addo, the Kenyan William Ruto or even the Somali Sheikh Hassan Mohammed. On the South American side, their counterparts Argentine Javier Milei, Colombian Gutavo Petro, Chilean Gabriel Boric and Ecuadorian Daniel Noboa will make the trip.
Russia not invited
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has repeatedly repeated that a peace process could not happen without Russia. However, Switzerland did not invite Moscow to the Bürgenstock. This choice follows in particular terse remarks from Sergei Lavrov regarding Swiss diplomacy.
During a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York at the end of January, the head of Russian diplomacy notably criticized Berne’s resumption of Western sanctions against Moscow. “I tried to explain to them that the mediator must be impartial and neutral,” he commented after a meeting with Ignazio Cassis. In April, he again estimated that Switzerland had transformed into a country “openly hostile” to Russia.
Despite everything, the DFA specifies that Switzerland continues to work on the integration of Russia into the peace process, without specifying how.
>> See the interview with Ignazio Cassis in Forum:
>> Read on this subject: Switzerland “hostile to Russia” and “not suitable” to negotiate on the conflict, according to Sergei Lavrov
>> Read also: A peace process in Ukraine cannot be done without Russia, says Ignazio Cassis
India, the only BRICS+ country represented
Chinafor its part, estimated at the end of May that it would be “difficult” to participate in the summit if Russia was not invited, citing an “obvious discrepancy” between the provisions of the conference and “the expectations general of the international community.
>> More details: China finds it “difficult” to participate in the Bürgenstock peace conference
For his part, Brazilian President Lula was present in Geneva on Thursday for a meeting of the Global Coalition for Social Justice before joining the G7 in Italy. But he will not take advantage of his presence in Europe to go to the Bürgenstock. Brasil will be represented by an ambassador. Saudi ArabiaHe will dispatch his Minister of Foreign Affairs Faisal bin Fahrad al-Saud. South Africa prefers to send an emissary.
On Russia’s partner countries within BRICS+, only India announced that it was sending a delegation to Switzerland. In May, Brazil and China for their part discussed setting up another conference on Ukraine, this one in the presence of Russia.
