The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, and his Swiss counterpart, Viola Amherd, inaugurated the Peace Summit for Ukraine this Saturday with the intention of “making history”, in the words of the Ukrainian president, who expects a broad consensus on his “peace formula” to end the conflict, even though Russia rejects his proposals completely.
“All parts of the world, all continents, different nations, both large and small geographically, and all political poles of our world (Latin America, the Middle East and Asia, Africa, Europe, the Pacific, Australia, North America) They are all represented,” Zelensky applauded in a message published on his X social network account.
“The opinions, ideas and leadership of each nation are equally important to us and everything agreed at the Summit will be part of the process of establishing peace and restoring the full force of the United Nations Charter that we all need,” he added.
“I think we are going to see how history is made at this summit,” the Ukrainian president stressed at the opening of the meeting in the Swiss city of Lucerne.
Amherd, for his part, hopes the meeting “will inspire a process for a just and lasting peace and take concrete measures to achieve it” and added that “all participating delegations should be able to present their ideas and points of view.”
The summit is marked by the expected absence of Russia, which has completely rejected the Ukrainian peace plan by refusing to withdraw its forces and return to Ukraine the sovereignty of the Ukrainian regions under its control, as kyiv demands. Nor will any representation from China, close to Moscow, attend the summit, which has been promoting its own peace initiative for months.
However, nearly a hundred countries and international organizations will attend the summit. The United States will be represented by the country’s Vice President, Kamala Harris, and the White House National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan. Together they “will reaffirm their support for the people of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression,” according to a statement from the White House.