World leaders are gathering in Switzerland for a summit aimed at pressuring Russia to end the war in Ukraine, but the absence of Moscow’s powerful allies, such as China, is expected to blunt the potential impact.
US Vice President Kamala Harris and the leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan are among those who joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the summit that began on Saturday.
Overall, host Switzerland said more than 50 heads of state will participate, as well as foreign ministers and lower-level delegations from dozens of other countries. India, Türkiye and Hungary, which have friendlier relations with Russia, also joined the event.
But China stayed away after Russia was excluded from the proceedings after Moscow dismissed the event as “futile”.
Without China, Western hopes of isolating Russia have faded, while recent military setbacks on the battlefield have put Ukrainian forces on the back burner.
“The summit risks showing the limits of Ukrainian diplomacy,” said Richard Gowan, United Nations director at the International Crisis Group.
“However, it is also an opportunity for Ukraine to remind the world that it is upholding the principles of the United Nations Charter.”
However, speaking to reporters on Saturday, Zelensky predicted that “history will be made” at the conference.
Speaking alongside Swiss President Viola Amherd, Zelenskyy said the meeting itself already represents a positive development.
“We have succeeded in bringing back to the world the idea that joint efforts can stop war and establish a just peace,” he said.
He added that those present will have to determine “what a just peace means for the world and how it can be achieved in a lasting way.”
That vision, he said, can then be “communicated to representatives of Russia.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the meeting an important step towards progress.
“Many issues related to peace and security will be discussed, but not the biggest one. This was always the plan,” she said, speaking to Welt TV before traveling to Switzerland.
“This is a small plant that needs to be watered, but obviously also with the prospect of more coming out of it.”
Meanwhile, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Kenya have all noted Russia’s absence as an obstacle.
“I must also note that this summit could have been more result-oriented if the other party to the conflict, Russia, had been present in the room,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at the summit.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud added that credible talks would involve a “difficult compromise”.
Moscow’s requests
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that his country would end the war if Ukraine agreed to abandon its NATO ambitions and hand over all of the four provinces claimed by Moscow — demands that Kiev quickly dismissed as if it was a surrender.
Ukraine, the United States and other Western allies quickly rejected Putin’s demands, while Germany’s Scholz said “the proposal was not meant seriously.”
On Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned against any deal that would see Russia staying on Ukrainian territory.
“Freezing the conflict today, with foreign troops occupying Ukrainian territory, is not the answer,” he said. “It’s a recipe for future wars of aggression.”
“We must instead support a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace for Ukraine, which restores Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.
Some saw Putin’s statements as a reflection of growing confidence that Russian forces have the upper hand in the war.
Russian troops, who already control large areas of eastern and southern Ukraine, have made territorial gains in recent months.
However, Ukrainian forces had recently recaptured large tracts of territory, particularly near the southern city of Kherson and the northern city of Kharkiv.
Speaking to Beyond the Line from Kiev, Peter Zalmayev, director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative (EDI), said that the G7 leaders’ commitment earlier this week to use interest from frozen Russian funds for a 50 million euro loan billion dollars to Ukraine will serve as a “lifeline”. ”.
However, he said the war, which remains “lopsided” in Moscow’s favor, has already turned into a war of attrition for both countries.
Talks will likely be the only way to broker a final peace, he said, adding: “The parties are as far away from each other as they have been throughout the entire conflict.”
Russia has chosen what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine as part of a broader struggle with the West, which it says wants to bring Russia to its knees.
Ukraine and the West reject this and accuse Russia of waging an illegal war of conquest.
