Landing ceremonies, state visit to France, tour of the Middle East, G7 in Italy… Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived this Friday in Switzerland, has carried out a whirlwind diplomatic tour in recent weeks to court the international community, beyond his allies Western countries, and increase pressure on Russia.
The culmination of these multiple trips is the summit on peace in Ukraine which takes place on Saturday and Sunday in Switzerland, in the luxurious Burgenstock hotel complex, perched on a mountain. kyiv hopes to gain broad international support at this “High-Level Peace Conference” for its plan to end the war sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“There will be two days of active work with countries from all regions of the world, with different nations who are nevertheless united by the common goal of bringing Ukraine closer to a just and lasting peace,” the president explained. Ukrainian on the social network
Discussions will focus on issues of nuclear security, food security and the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war and children taken to Russian-controlled territory. These themes “are not the most delicate but they are nevertheless important,” the director of the Swisspeace research institute, Laurent Goetschel, told AFP. The objective of the summit, requested by kyiv, is to “inspire a future peace process”, but the outcome of the meeting remains uncertain.
A broadening of support for kyiv?
Representatives of 92 countries and 8 organizations are expected to participate in this summit. In total, around a hundred delegations must be present, including 57 heads of state and government from all regions of the world, Swiss authorities announced Friday evening. French President Emmanuel Macron, American Vice-President Kamala Harris and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be there. About half of the leaders will be Europeans.
Among the members of the Brics group (five emerging countries) of which Russia is a part, only Brazil has publicly confirmed its participation, agreeing to send its ambassador as an observer. China, a close ally of the Kremlin, has said the talks are only meaningful if Russia and Ukraine participate. India and South Africa also find it difficult to be there without Moscow.
Usually measured in his criticism of Beijing, Zelensky this time did not mince his words, accusing the Chinese government of having used its diplomatic influence to dissuade southern countries from visiting Switzerland. “Unfortunately, China is trying today to prevent countries from coming to the Peace Summit,” regretted the Ukrainian leader on June 2. Note, on the other hand, the presence of Turkey, an important mediator between kyiv and Moscow.
Russia with absent subscribers
Ukraine, like its Western allies, considered it harmful to represent the author of the February 2022 invasion. The two parties have not had direct discussions since the first weeks of the war. Russia has indicated on several occasions that organizing a summit without its participation made “no sense” and castigated the “peace formula” put forward by Volodymyr Zelensky, which essentially provides for a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, financial reparations from Moscow and the creation of a special tribunal to try Russian officials.
Vladimir Putin this Friday described the peace summit planned in Switzerland as a “stratagem to divert attention” from the real responsibilities in the conflict – according to him those of Ukraine and the West. It is therefore complicated, without the presence of one of the two belligerents, to move forward towards a hypothetical peace plan.
Especially since the positions of the two camps seem frozen. Vladimir Putin on Friday set a de facto capitulation of Ukraine as a condition for talks. The Russian leader insisted that Ukraine must hand over all of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine to Russia, even though Moscow only partially occupies them and there is still fighting there. rage.
His Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky immediately rejected a “Hitler”-style “ultimatum”. “These messages are ultimatum messages (…) Hitler did the same thing, when he said Give me part of Czechoslovakia and we’ll leave it at thatbut no, they are lies,” commented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with the Italian news channel SkyTG24 on the sidelines of a G7 summit. “Nazism is here, and it now has the face of Putin,” he added.
In the aftermath of the G7
This summit in Switzerland will take place as a continuation of the G7, which opened last Thursday in Italy. Its members (United States, Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan) promised Friday to support Ukraine “as much as necessary”, according to a draft joint declaration.
Vladimir Putin denounced the G7’s decision on Thursday to guarantee a $50 billion loan to Ukraine with future interest on Russian assets frozen since the start of the Russian offensive. “Even if we embellish things, theft is still theft and it will not go unpunished,” he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for the outright confiscation of the 300 billion euros in assets of the Russian central bank frozen by the West for two years, which they refuse for legal reasons.
During this summit, Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement. The agreement “states that the United States supports Ukraine’s future integration into NATO and recognizes that our security agreement paves the way for Ukraine’s integration into NATO,” the president stressed. Ukrainian.