(Burgenstock) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his hope Saturday to achieve “a just peace as quickly as possible” at the start of the first Ukraine peace summit being held in Switzerland, without Russia.
“Whatever is agreed [at this summit] will be part of the peacemaking process that we all need,” Zelensky said, adding: “We will see history being made at this summit.”
Some 90 countries are participating, but the summit’s ambitions are measured in the absence of Russia and China.
“Together we are taking the first step towards a just peace,” the Ukrainian president said, adding that “the world is stronger” than Vladimir Putin.
On Friday, the Russian president loudly invited himself into the conversation by demanding the de facto surrender of Ukraine before any peace talks.
“What we need is not a dictated peace, but a just and fair peace that takes into account the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” retorted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz , Saturday on the ARD channel, echoing the condemnations of the United States and NATO.
Mr Zelensky denounced the “Hitler-like” “ultimatum” of the Russian president, who launched the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.
“We want to inspire a process for a just and lasting peace,” declared Swiss President Viola Amherd, alongside her Ukrainian counterpart.
“As an international community, we can prepare the ground for direct discussions between the warring parties,” she said, adding: “If we want to inspire a peace process, Russia must also be involved at some point. This is clear to all.”
A second summit is planned, in which Kyiv hopes that a Russian delegation will participate, Mr. Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, explained on Tuesday.
The meeting, which is being held in the ultra-chic Bürgenstock resort, perched above Lake Lucerne, will begin with a plenary session on Saturday afternoon, followed by dinner.
On Sunday, three topics will be discussed in working groups: nuclear safety, freedom of navigation and food security, and humanitarian aspects, notably the fate of Ukrainian children deported to Russia.
US Vice President Kamala Harris, representing President Joe Biden returning to the US after the G7 in Italy, came with more than $1.5 billion in aid, mainly for the energy sector and aid humanitarian.
French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the summit on Saturday alongside the other heads of state and government of the G7 (Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom).
The Swiss hosts wanted to bring together as many countries as possible, particularly those from the Global South, but among the emerging BRICS countries, only Saudi Arabia is sending its head of diplomacy. Brazil, India and even South Africa have lower-ranking envoys.
As for China, it had warned that it would not participate until Russia was in the round table.
In Ukraine on the eastern front of Donetsk, where violent fighting is taking place, soldiers are doubtful about this major diplomatic raid. Maxime and his tank unit would like to “hope” that the summit achieves something. “But experience shows that nothing will come of it,” the soldier told AFP.
In Kyiv, Victoria “doesn’t have high hopes” either. “I would like us to find a path to peace, because I am exhausted by this war […] but I am not very optimistic,” explains this thirty-year-old.
Experts are equally cautious.
“Kyiv and its supporters will struggle to achieve tangible results from the meeting […] beyond reaffirming the UN Charter’s principles of territorial integrity,” the International Crisis Group think tank believes.
Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived on Friday evening, has just spent the last few weeks pleading his cause around the world and from the G7 to Italy with a $50 billion loan in his pocket.
The funds will be guaranteed by the interest earned on Russian assets frozen since the beginning of the invasion. For Vladimir Putin, this is “a theft that will not go unpunished.”
The Ukrainian president also signed security agreements with the United States and Japan on the sidelines of the G7, and is once again receiving weapons from the United States after long months of waiting which put his army in great difficulty.
Finally on Friday evening, the 27 gave their “agreement in principle” to the opening of EU accession negotiations.
