“For the first time, countries did not talk about weapons, they talked about peace.” The President of the Confederation, Viola Amherd, closed the Bürgenstock summit on Sunday. They didn’t talk about weapons, but they were there. Thousands of soldiers and police armed with rifles, static or on patrol, watching every move of all the people who had passed the multiple stages to arrive at the top of the mountain, whose road was lined with checkpoints. Roads blocked, journalists almost confined: not a very peaceful atmosphere for talking about peace.
But everything had to be perfect. This is the first time in its history that Switzerland has received so many heads of state on its territory. On Saturday, they arrived one after the other at the luxury hotel. Then they divided themselves into working groups on Sunday morning before arriving at a final declaration (read box): it lasted less than 24 hours. Kamala Harris and Olaf Scholz even left before the end.
To find the live progress of the event and numerous photos, go to our live-ticker.
The moral of this story is that it’s good, but without Russia, we won’t go far. Switzerland wanted to bring together countries from all over the world and it succeeded. The countries of the South have not hesitated to criticize the West. Gabriel Boric, President of Chile, noted the double standards of Western countries, inconsistent in their behavior with Russia and Israel.
They ended up agreeing: next time, if possible, Russia should at least be there. She observed the summit with perplexity. “The documents resulting from the meeting will have no meaning for Russia,” said its ambassador to Switzerland. Next step? Good luck. Volodymyr Zelensky recalled that it had been decided to affirm the principle that Ukraine’s borders must be respected and that “without this, no peace is possible.” According to him, Russia is currently “not ready” to accept the conditions of peace.
Three objectives and two prerequisites
On Sunday, 84 delegations signed a joint declaration and around ten did not. It takes up the three axes of the summit. First, food security must be ensured by removing barriers to trade and transport. Then, displaced Ukrainian prisoners and children must be able to return to Ukraine. Finally, nuclear security must prevail, particularly in Zaporizhia. The text has two additions for the next stages of negotiations: Russia must be there and Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be respected.
