The focus of the Swiss-hosted Ukraine peace conference will be on nuclear safety, food safety, freedom of navigation and humanitarian aspects, rather than demanding a withdrawal of Russian forces.
The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) cast doubt on Russian Foreign Ministry statements that the summit will concentrate on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ten-point peace plan.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry website, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a media conference that Russia has a copy of the summit’s finalised agenda – which still contains nine of the ten Zelensky points.
Those points include the “ultimate demand” for Russia to withdraw its troops and return to the 1991 borders, reparations and compensation from frozen Russian assets. Russia has concluded that the Bürgenstock peace conference is therefore doomed to failure.
The FDFA told the Keystone-SDA news agency that it would not directly comment on Russian allegations. However, the conference is intended to provide a platform at which various peace plans can be presented. “It remains to be seen whether a final declaration can be agreed at the end of the conference,” the FDFA added.
The first step is to develop a “common understanding among the participating states with a view to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine”, the Swiss government said.
During the initial exploratory phase, Switzerland held talks with G7 member states, the EU and representatives of the so-called “Global South”, such as China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, it said.
“The conference aims to establish a forum for a high-level dialogue on ways to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine in accordance with international law and the UN Charter. It aims to create a common understanding of a framework favourable to this objective and a concrete roadmap for Russia’s participation in the peace process.”
Zelensky told the New York Times a few days ago that a possible peace settlement must begin with plans to secure Ukrainian food exports to developing countries, the exchange of prisoners, the return of abducted children and securing a nuclear power plant occupied by Russia in the south of Ukraine.
According to the latest information from the FDFA, 70 countries have so far announced their participation in the peace conference in mid-June, ‘most of them at head of state or government level’. Half are from Europe, the other half from the rest of the world.
In a video message on Sunday, Zelensky called on his counterparts from the United States and China, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, to take part in the Ukraine peace conference. “Please support the peace summit with your leadership and participation,” he said.
SWI
Siddhartha 