The Peace Summit on Ukraine will be held on June 15-16 in central Switzerland, in the town of Bürgenstock, on the shores of Lake Lucerne. As Swissinfo noted, the five-star hotel Bürgenstock has been chosen as the venue for the summit.
Representatives of 80-100 countries are expected to attend the summit. In total, more than 160 delegations have been invited, including from the G7, G20 and BRICS countries. The exact composition of the participants is still unknown. About 50 delegates have confirmed their participation so far. This information was confirmed to Swiss broadcaster RTS on Wednesday by a spokesman for the country's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Sport, Nicolas Bidault.
According to Bidault, Switzerland is “working hard on the diplomatic front to convince those who have not yet announced their participation” and expects about a hundred invited parties to take part.
Bidault noted that Russia had not been invited to the peace summit because it had itself announced its unwillingness to participate. The Russian embassy confirmed that the Swiss authorities had not sent them an invitation and added that even if they did, the Russian side would not accept it. They did not provide further details of their position.
The Swiss government is making efforts to have Brazil, India, China and South Africa represented at the summit. However, today it became known that Brazilian President Lula da Silva refused to go to the conference in Switzerland. In his opinion, participation is meaningless as the summit will not include both sides of the conflict. It is noted, that the delegation from Brazil will still take part in the event but without Brazilian President.
Later, South African President Ramaphosa also announced his unwillingness to participate in the summit. This was announced today by the press service of the President of South Africa. It is still unclear whether another representative of the country will be sent to the event instead of him.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that the result of the summit on Ukraine in Switzerland should be a communiqué signed by the leaders of the countries.
“We want to get free shipping. Any cargo on the Ukrainian sea without risk. That and the safety of people in Odessa, and in general in the South. Because they are hitting the ports - this is the infrastructure, and the sea, and the economy. And also to make a serious step about the push for prisoner exchange. In the humanitarian aspect of the exchange of prisoners is a double issue, as well as with energy,” Zelenskyy said today.
After the document is signed, Zelenskyy believes, it is possible to organize platforms in certain countries, where each of these points will be technically worked out, and only after that offer Russia's representatives a concrete plan.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said earlier that Kyiv could start negotiations with Moscow after the conference in Switzerland.
“There are only two ways to bring Russia to a situation where it will act in good faith. The first is success on the battlefield, and the second is to have a coalition of countries that share the same principles and the same approaches. After that, Russia can be part of the negotiations...After all, you cannot end the war without both sides,” the Ukrainian foreign minister said, emphasizing the importance of the upcoming summit.
German Chancellor Scholz said that the main topics of the Swiss summit would be the issues of nuclear power plant safety, grain exports, exchange of prisoners of war and a taboo on the use of nuclear weapons.
Scholz emphasized that the end of the war in Ukraine would not be discussed.
“At best, it will be the beginning of a process that could lead to direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow,” he said.
