More than two years after the start of the war in Ukraine, the vast majority of participants in the first Ukraine peace summit, held on June 15 and 16 in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, managed to agree on a final communiqué outlining avenues to end the biggest European conflict since the Second World War.
But the question about “how and when to involve Russia» remains open, recognized the president of the Swiss Confederation and host of the summit, Viola Amherd. “It will be necessary to find a method allowing» to Russia and China «to join these deliberations», added Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo alongside him.
According to an official count, around 80 countries support the final declaration. Brazil, India and Saudi Arabia in particular were not among them. The head of the Indian delegation, Pavan Kapoor, stressed that peace could only be achieved by “bringing both parties to the conflict into sincere commitment“.
The text reaffirms “the principles of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all states, including Ukraine“. He denounces “the militarization of food security» and calls for the return of Ukrainian children deported by Russia. He also calls “to involve all parties» to the conflict to put an end to hostilities, while Russia was excluded from this summit, and its Chinese ally preferred not to participate due to this absence.
Second summit
“We know that peace in Ukraine will not be achieved in one fell swoop. It’s a path to take. This (summit) was not a peace negotiation. Because Putin does not seriously want to end the war», Underlined the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explained that the summit would be followed by meetings at technical and ministerial level, before a second peace summit.to end this war and have a just and lasting peace“. Its objective is to unite the international community around a peace proposal which could be presented to Moscow.
The meeting took place while Ukraine is in military difficulty, but Mr. Zelensky assured that “it’s not because we become weaker that we start talking about peace“.
The “ground realities”
The call for surrender launched on Friday by President Vladimir Putin was also rejected by a majority of participants. But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday that Ukraine should “to reflect on» to the proposal of the Russian president, ensuring that it was not a “ultimatum” but “of a peace initiative that takes into account the realities on the ground“.
The Ukrainian president described the summit as “success», coming in addition to the release of American military aid, after months of procrastination and a loan of 50 billion dollars guaranteed by frozen Russian assets.
Food and nuclear safety
Sunday was dedicated to nuclear safety and global food security, including ensuring freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.
Discussions on food security focused on the crisis in agricultural production and exports, which created a food and inflationary shock at the start of the war, with Ukraine being one of the world’s grain baskets. The final communiqué emphasizes that “food security must not be militarized in any way» and that freedom of navigation on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov must be guaranteed.
The final communiqué also requests that Ukraine recover a “total sovereign control» on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe occupied by the Russians. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly warned of the risk of a major nuclear disaster at this facility.
There “critical situation» of the central «is not a theoretical threat but a very real one“, in particular because of the waste which must be permanently cooled, repeated the director of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, in an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia, affirming that it was important “to maintain a constructive dialogue with both parties» to the conflict.
By Le360 (with AFP)
06/17/2024 at 8:05 a.m.
