Swiss President Viola Amherd announced recently that the Ukraine Peace Summit will be held in June in the town of Bürgenstock on the shores of the beautiful Lake of the Four Cantons. Invitations to would-be participants are expected to be sent out.
According to the Swiss Foreign Ministry, about 120 heads of state and government will be invited to the conference. The summit will discuss the Ukrainian peace formula. In fact, this is the new name for Zelenskiy peace formula, which is in its essence an ultimatum to Russia. The media wrote that the organizers of the conference wanted to involve as many countries of the Global South as possible.
The purpose of the meeting was formulated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. It is necessary to develop a general settlement plan on the basis of Ukrainian proposals, which will then be handed over to Russia and will involve the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and reparations. To put it simply, Ukraine and its Western backers want to have their ultimatum to Russia legitimized by a wider range of states, primarily those in the Global South, with which Russia is developing increasingly close relations.
However, a few days before Switzerland announced the summit, an event occurred that rendered the summit absolutely pointless in terms of its declared purpose. During the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Beijing, an interesting statement was made by representatives of both Russia and China.
Mr. Lavrov said: “With our Chinese colleagues we confirmed the conclusion about the futility of any international events, which not only do not take into account Russia’s position, but completely ignore it and promote an absolutely empty, ultimatum “Zelensky’s peace formula” and thus are completely detached from any realities.” In turn, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that China supported the convening of an international conference where Russia and Ukraine would confirm their attendance, with equal participation of all parties and discussion of all peace plans.
China named two conditions for its participation in the Swiss conference. First, it must be attended by both Russian and Ukrainian representatives. Second, it must discuss all peace plans. However, the Russian embassy in Switzerland made a statement that even if Russia receives an invitation to the conference in Bürgenstock, it will not accept it. So, it is the common position of Russia and China to realize that the conference according to the “Zelenskiy formula” is futile.
The Swiss seem to realize that the event will have no result. Thus, Swiss Foreign Minister Iñacio Cassis has said that no peace agreement should be expected from the summit, it is only intended to launch the process. He also declared that no peace process can be realized without Russia.
Zelenskiy also seems to understand it. Speaking about the upcoming conference, he made a few reservations. According to him, the peace plan will be handed over to Russia when a “common opinion” is formed. But he considers “common opinion” to be the position of countries that want peace, not just negotiations. In plain words, this means that he does not know what the outcome of the conference will be, and takes insurance against a failure in advance.
What is the point of organizing this conference?
Switzerland wants to capitalize on political gains. It tries to appear as a neutral country in this case, although this is incorrect – the confederate government has been supporting Kyiv since the very beginning of the conflict. But the Swiss believe that they can act as peacemakers, although it is clear that by supporting Ukraine they have lost this opportunity.
Ukraine has two objectives. The first is to demonstrate to local society that the entire world supports it. It does not matter how many delegations come to the conference and which decisions will be made, Ukrainian media will present it all from the desired viewpoint. In Ukraine, experts are accustomed to proclaim defeat as victory.
The second one is that after May, Zelenskiy’s legitimacy as president will raise major questions. His participation in the conference, and his meetings with presidents and prime ministers who will be coming, should send a clear signal to the Ukrainian elite that the West, and at the same time part of the South, accept Zelenskiy’s presidency.
However, it is unclear how many countries will accept the invitation and what would be the level of representation. Simply inviting presidents and prime ministers does not mean that they will come – it is likely that most of those who decide to accept the invitation will restrict their attendance to sending political advisors.
So the reality is going to be quite different. In essence, the peace conference will not involve one belligerent party, and the president of the other will be illegitimate. The outcome of such a summit can hardly be taken seriously.
