Creating a path to peace in Ukraine. This is the objective of summit which today and tomorrow, Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 June, will take place in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock, not far from Lucerne, in the presence of representatives of around 90 countries and international organisations, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The protagonist of the summit, which begins on the final day of the G7 in Borgo Egnazia, is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskywhich precisely in Puglia achieved two important results: the ten-year bilateral security agreement with the United States, interpreted by observers as preparatory to Kiev’s entry into NATO, and the use of interests on frozen Russian assets to guarantee a 50 billion dollar fund that will help rebuild his country.
Zelensky: “The objective is just and lasting peace”
“It will be two days of active work with countries from all parts of the world, with different nations, but united by the common goal of bringing closer a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president said.
The peace summit, he added, “will provide the opportunity for the global majority to take specific steps in areas that matter to everyone in the world: nuclear security, food security and the return of prisoners of war and all deported people , including deported Ukrainian children. Around 100 countries and international organizations will participate in the summit. I am grateful to everyone who chose to participate and to demonstrate global leadership and commitment to peace, international law and the United Nations Charter.”
“Together, as a responsible global majority – he continued – we must make every effort to ensure that wars, aggression and colonial occupation can end and that they will never be repeated. I am sure that everyone in the world is interested in just peace and respect for every nation. This is why the summit is designed so that every nation has the opportunity to demonstrate leadership in achieving the shared goals of the responsible global majority has the potential to bring peace closer and restore full force to the Charter of the United Nations”.
The 3 key issues for Ukraine
Zelensky, who attended the Berlin conference earlier this week, will use the Swiss meeting to consolidate support for Ukraine on three key themes: food security, nuclear security and the return of children and prisoners of war Ukrainians detained in Russia. The programmatic basis of the conference will be the 10-point Peace Formula presented by Zelensky at the end of 2022, seen more than anything as a symbolic gesture not capable, at least at this stage, of producing important results given the inadmissibility of many demands on which Kiev insists.
The Ukrainian leader did not want Moscow to be involved in the conference, and the Swiss – aware of Russian reservations about the talks – did not extend the invitation. Bern, however, believes that Vladimir Putin sooner or later he must be involved in the process and the Ukrainians are also considering this possibility.
Meanwhile, the Russian leader had no kind words for the conference, branding it as “a trick to divert attention”, but at the same time he said he was ready to sit at the negotiating table “even tomorrow”. Under Russian conditions. But according to Moscow, Zelensky should be excluded from a possible negotiation, considered “illegitimate” because his presidential mandate has expired.
Summit without Biden, Putin and Xi
Absent Biden, Putin and Xi Jinpingand the presence of other leaders of the so-called emerging countries is in doubt, the knot that the rest of the world will try to unravel on the shores of Lake Lucerne will be like silencing the weapons of a war that has already cost hundreds of billions of dollars and caused thousands of deaths, which brought back the specter of nuclear war, heightened tensions between NATO and Russia and unleashed harsh sanctions against Moscow, whose forces in the field continue to record modest but constant territorial gains in Eastern and north-eastern Ukraine.
The big names present
Numerous heads of state and government will be expected in the Swiss resort. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz and the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau will fly directly from Puglia to Burgenstock.
The United States will be represented by vice president Kamala Harris, who will meet Zelensky on Saturday, and by the influential national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, while Biden is in Los Angeles after the G7, where a fundraiser for the election campaign awaits him with actors George Clooney and Julia Roberts, as well as former President Barack Obama.
The Polish president, Andrzej Duda, will be part of the large European delegation which includes, among others, the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the Finnish President Alexander Stubb, the Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics and the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, while It is unclear at what level key countries such as India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia will be represented. Hungary, which has maintained close ties with Moscow and criticized Western sanctions, said it would send its foreign minister, as did Turkey. For Brazil there will be Lula.
China, Russia’s main ally, will not participate in the proceedings and continues to maintain an ambiguous position on the war. Beijing has reiterated that any international peace conference must involve both Russia and Ukraine and says it will support efforts to end the conflict. Kiev, however, accused China of helping Russia in trying to sabotage the summit. China and Brazil have offered an alternative peace plan, more favorable to Moscow.
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