Peace Summit for Ukraine starts today: What to know about the conference in Switzerland

Contents:

• What is the Global Peace Summit
• Purpose of the conference
• Summit program
• Participants
• Russia's participation and Putin's attempts to disrupt the Summit
• Potential outcome

What is the Global Peace Summit

Shortly after the full-scale invasion by Russia began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented his vision for stopping Russian aggression and ensuring the security of Ukraine. This 10-point plan, known as the peace formula, outlines specific steps to achieve these goals. More details on its content can be found in a separate report.

To garner as much support as possible for the implementation of the peace formula, Ukraine organized international meetings in Copenhagen, Jeddah, Malta, and Davos throughout 2022-2023, but these were held at the level of state advisors.

The Global Peace Summit on June 15-16 will be the first conference where world leaders and government officials are invited.

Photo: Bürgenstock resort, where the summit will take place (flickr.com/eda_dfae)

The diplomatic event will be held at the Bürgenstock resort in the canton of Nidwalden near the city of Lucerne in central Switzerland.

Purpose of the conference

The summit will focus on finding ways to achieve a just peace for Ukraine in accordance with international law and the UN Charter.

As noted by the government of the host country, Switzerland, the aim of the conference is to foster high-level discussion to find a common understanding regarding the initiation of the peace process.

Objectives of the summit:

• Provide a platform for dialogue on ways to achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Ukraine based on international law and the UN Charter;
• Promote a general understanding of the possible framework to achieve this goal;
• Jointly determine a roadmap on how to engage both parties in the future peace process.

The discussions will be based on Volodymyr Zelenskyy's pease formula.

While the formula consists of 10 points, the summit in Switzerland will focus on three of them: nuclear safety; food security and freedom of navigation; humanitarian issues (exchange of all prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children deported to Russia).

Summit program

The conference will begin in the afternoon of June 15. Participant delegations will arrive at Bürgenstock by 17:30 (Kyiv time).

Photo: the president of Ukraine arrived in Switzerland on June 14 (Getty Images)

At 14:30, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Swiss leader Viola Amherd will make a press statement.

17:30-18:30 - Opening ceremony

18:30 - Opening speeches

20:00 - Group photo

On June 16, the Global Summit will feature three working sessions on food, nuclear, and humanitarian security.

At 15:30, a final press conference will be held by Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Viola Amherd.

Participants

Switzerland has invited 160 delegations at the level of heads of state and government, as well as leaders of international organizations.

The list of participants published on June 14 indicates that 100 delegations will attend the summit:

• 57 countries will be represented by heads of state or government;
• 29 countries will send ministers;
• 6 countries will be represented at the advisor level;
• 8 senior representatives of international organizations will also be present.

Notable attendees include French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

From Europe, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Czech President Petr Pavel, and others have confirmed their participation.

At the last moment, Argentine President Javier Milei decided to attend the summit.

US President Joe Biden will not be present. Instead, Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will represent the United States.

Italy will be represented by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani instead of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Australia will be represented by Minister for Government Services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill Shorten. Hungary will be represented by Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico are also sending their foreign ministers to Switzerland. The UAE will be represented by the senior diplomatic advisor to the president.

India will participate in the summit, but not at the prime minister level. Diplomat Pavan Kapoor, currently India's ambassador to Russia, will attend the conference.

Ukraine invited Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the summit, but Chinese representatives declined. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, they insist on Russia's full participation in such events.

Brazil gave a similar explanation for the refusal of its president to attend. President Lula da Silva will send Brazil's ambassador to Switzerland to the summit.

Furthermore, it was revealed that China is actively promoting its peace plan and trying to engage developing countries. According to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, more than 25 countries have supported this plan.

Photo: about 100 participants will attend the peace summit (flickr.com/eda_dfae)

International organizations represented at the conference on June 15-16 include:

• Secretary General of the Council of Europe – Marija Pejčinović Burić
• President of the European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen
• President of the European Council – Charles Michel
• President of the European Parliament – Roberta Metsola
• OSCE Chairperson-in-Office – Ann Linde
• Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations – Rosemary DiCarlo
• Secretary General of the Organization of American States OAS – Luis Almagro
• Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.

Russia's participation and Putin's attempts to disrupt the Summit

Ukraine did not invite representatives of the Russian Federation to the summit in Switzerland. During the conference preparations, Volodymyr Zelenskyy explained that the first peace summit aims to prepare a document that they later plan to present to the Russian side.

However, Russia's participation in such conferences is not entirely ruled out. Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak noted that a final peace plan may be announced at the second peace summit. If Russia's representative is willing to establish a just peace and end the war, they will be invited to the event.

Additionally, Swiss President Viola Amherd stated that Russia may participate in the conference following the summit. She emphasized that the meeting will not conclude with the signing of a peace agreement but will serve as a prelude to further negotiations. Amherd stressed the importance of both sides sitting at the negotiating table for peace to be achieved.

Russia, on its part, has repeatedly stated that it will not participate in such negotiation formats. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complained that the peace summit aims to issue an ultimatum to Russia.

Moreover, the aggressor country launched a campaign against the summit. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba revealed that Russians employed three types of opposition to the event:

• Made statements claiming the event is of no value.
• Tried to persuade countries not to attend the summit.
• Attempted to convince countries that agreed to participate to send their representatives at the lowest level.

One day before the summit began, Vladimir Putin once again declared Russia's alleged readiness for peace talks, but on the condition that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions within the administrative borders and renounce NATO membership. Additionally, demands for "denazification" and "demilitarization" were reiterated, alongside the need to lift all Western sanctions against Russia.

Potential outcome

The summit communiqué is expected to include only part of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's peace formula. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba explained that three points with the broadest consensus were selected for the summit. He expressed hope that the summit would strengthen Ukraine's position and confirm that the majority shares Ukraine's terms for peace.

According to Japan's NHK, summit participants will be asked to adopt a document addressing guarantees for the safety of nuclear power plants, food security, the release of all prisoners, and the return of children deported to Russia.

Simultaneously, the document will not include demands for the withdrawal of Russian terrorists from Ukrainian territory or the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity. Sources from the publication explained that these points were omitted from the statement draft due to the positions of certain Asian and Middle Eastern countries with rapidly growing economies that maintain ties with Russia.

Moreover, the summit's joint statement will underscore the importance of Russia's participation in discussions on achieving peace. The draft communiqué obtained by Radio Free Europe states the necessity of involving all sides in achieving peace.

"We believe that achieving peace requires the participation and dialogue of all parties. Therefore, we have decided to take concrete steps in the aforementioned areas with further involvement of representatives of all parties. The Charter of the United Nations, particularly the principles of respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states, can and will serve as the foundation for achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine," the draft statement reads.

In the document, mention of representatives from the Russian Federation has been replaced with all sides, and instead of Russia's war against Ukraine, Russian aggression is indicated.

For more information on the results Ukraine hopes to achieve from the Peace Summit, see the "Moderate Success. What Ukraine Wants from the Peace Summit" section.

Sources: Bloomberg, ZDF, NHK, Swiss info, Radio Liberty articles, FDFA data, statement of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, interview with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to Ukrinform.