Switzerland hosted a ‘Summit on Peace in Ukraine’ on June 15-16 in which 92 countries across the globe took part. The summit took place in Bürgenstock, Switzerland. Russia did not take part in the Swiss peace talk.
Invitations were sent to 160 countries, except Russia. Out of the 168 countries, 68 countries declined the invite including China upon Moscow’s special request. EU President Ursula Von Der Leyen publicly condemned Zelensky’s peace proposal, calling it “not serious’ ‘ and that no country would ever accept these outrageous terms’ ‘ put on the table by the Kremlin.
The communique addressed three essential topics of discussion at the summit: nuclear safety, food security and humanitarian dimension. It established the UN charter as the basis of the Swiss peace summit.
“The United Nations Charter, including the principles of respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states, can and will serve as a basis in achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” the Swiss joint communique said.
When asked about Zelensky’s stance on resuming negotiations with Moscow, he said he is ready to “start negotiations even tomorrow” if Russia “withdraws from our territory.” Similarly Moscow, which labeled the summit as “an idle pastime”, on the other end is ready to order an “immediate” ceasefire if Kyiv starts withdrawing from four regions occupied by Moscow’s forces and renounces its plans to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Saudi Arabia is expected to host the next peace summit on Ukraine although it did not endorse the current Swiss joint communique for peace in Ukraine. Countries are looking forward to Beijing’s presence in the next summit hosted by Riyadh.
Peace Framework for Ukraine
The peace summit built a ground on a few common points via ‘a fruitful, comprehensive and constructive exchange of various views on pathways towards a framework for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, based on international law, including the United Nations Charter.’ They reiterated resolutions A/RES/ES-11/1 and A/RES/ES-11/6 adopted at the UN General Assembly, highlighting their commitment to uphold international laws.
The communique said, “Any threat or use of nuclear weapons in the context of the ongoing war against Ukraine is inadmissible…food security must not be weaponized in any way. Ukrainian agricultural products should be securely and freely provided to interested third countries,…all prisoners of war must be released by complete exchange. All deported and unlawfully displaced Ukrainian children, and all other Ukrainian civilians who were unlawfully detained, must be returned to Ukraine.”
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Why did India and others refuse to sign the Swiss declaration?
The 7 countries – India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and UAE- took part in the summit but did not sign the final communique on establishing peace in Ukraine. Brazil, listed as an “observer” state, also did not feature as a signatory.
The Indian delegation led by Pavan Kapoor at the Swiss peace summit, refrained from aligning itself with any terms of the joint communique. In an official statement, the Ministry said, “India’s participation in the Summit, as well as in the preceding NSA/Political Director-level meetings based on Ukraine’s Peace Formula, was in line with our consistent approach to facilitate a lasting and peaceful resolution to the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. We continue to believe that such a resolution requires a sincere and practical engagement between the two parties to the conflict.”
It stressed the importance of both the countries agreeing to the terms of the proposal in order to establish peace, which in the current scenario Russia was absent.
