Is Ukraine supported anywhere but the West? What did the Global Peace Summit show?

Without China and Russia

World leaders and diplomats arrived in Bürgenstock, a fashionable mountain resort near Lucerne. More than 160 delegations were invited to the summit in Switzerland, including the G7, G20, and even the BRICS (except for Russia). As well as representatives of the Vatican, the European Union, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Indeed, the representation was quite broad, but not all of those invited came to Burgenstock as delegations from 92 countries and 8 international organizations took part in the event.

57 countries were represented at the highest level – by presidents or prime ministers. The most coveted guest, Joe Biden, was unable to attend the summit despite persistent calls from Volodymyr Zelenskyy, preferring to focus on his election campaign in the United States. Although the two presidents had met in Italy a few days earlier at the G7 congress, Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged his American counterpart to stay in Europe longer to emphasize the importance of the event with his presence. In the end, the United States was represented by a delegation led by Vice President Kamala Harris.

But the People's Republic of China had previously refused to participate in the congress at all, insisting that without an invitation from Russia, the event would not be able to bring peace closer. Moreover, Beijing has launched a real diplomatic offensive, persuading a number of countries in the Global South, whose position on the war remains neutral and sometimes even pro-Russian, to ignore the event.

For example, on June 1, at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, the Ukrainian president openly accused China of trying to disrupt the peace summit for the first time. At the time, Zelenskyy said that China's foreign policy did not comply with the officially declared principles of supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.

China has become a tool in Putin's hands and is working to prevent some states from attending the Peace Summit. This is not only support for Russia, it is actually support for the war, because if you do not support the Peace Summit, then everything that is happening is normal for you.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Shortly before Zelenskyy's statements, China's special representative for the settlement of the Russo-Ukrainian war, Li Hui, went on a diplomatic tour of several countries. In May, he visited Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. In the end, Egypt and Saudi Arabia refused to participate in the Peace Summit. Although representatives of the United Arab Emirates came to the summit, they refused to sign a joint communiqué. Only Turkiye was not only represented at the Peace Summit, but also signed the document.

Vladimir Putin also contributed to the discrediting of the congress. He and Russian diplomats around the world convinced world politicians that the Peace Summit had only one goal: to legitimize Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose presidential term had allegedly already expired. Not everyone is familiar with the intricacies of the Ukrainian Constitution, so this rhetoric may have worked on some.

To this propaganda campaign, the Russian dictator also added his own "peace plan," which he announced on June 14, the day before the Bürgenstock summit. It states that Russia is ready to immediately cease hostilities and start peace talks if Ukraine withdraws its troops from Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts – even those territories that Russia has not been able to capture. None of the world leaders publicly supported this demand.

Who has supported Ukraine’s peace initiatives?

The Peace Summit in Switzerland was based on a different "peace formula" – the Ukrainian one, as well as other peace proposals based on the UN Charter and international law. The main goals were officially to launch the peace process, provide a platform for dialogue, develop an understanding of peace in Ukraine, and formulate a roadmap for engaging both sides in future peace talks.

Out of the ten points of the "peace formula", only three were discussed in Bürgenstock:

• the inadmissibility of Russia's use of nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine and the need to ensure the operation of all Ukrainian nuclear power plants, including the Zaporizhzhia NPP occupied by Russian troops, which Russia must return to full control of Ukraine and under IAEA supervision;
• food security – Ukraine's agricultural products should be freely supplied to third countries; free and safe commercial shipping should be ensured, along with unimpeded access to all Ukrainian seaports in the Black and Azov Seas;
• the release of all prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine as part of an exchange between the two countries based on the principle of "all for all"; and the immediate return to Ukraine of all abducted and forcibly displaced civilians, including Ukrainian children, and all those illegally detained in places of detention in Russia.

The summit participants agreed on a common position on all three points proposed by Ukraine. The key principles on food security, nuclear and energy security, and the release and return to Ukraine of all captured and abducted Ukrainian citizens were set out in the Joint Communiqué on a Peace Framework in Ukraine.

This final document was signed by representatives of most countries that attended the Global Peace Summit. The communiqué remains open, so other countries – including those that did not participate in the summit – can still join it. The document was supported by almost all European countries represented at the summit, including Hungary and Serbia. Of all the European countries, only Armenia abstained.

In addition to European countries, the joint declaration was signed by the following states from all continents across the world: USA, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, East Timor, Qatar, Cape Verde, Fiji, Sao Tome and Principe, Gambia, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Somalia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Palau.

Thus, the joint communiqué was signed by a number of African and South American states representing the Global South. This demonstrated a certain diplomatic progress of Ukraine, as most countries of this conditional economic group remain neutral and usually refrain from supporting the Ukrainian vision of peace.

However, not everyone was convinced. Bahrain, Brazil (represented at the summit as an observer), Colombia (delegates from this country eventually did not come to Switzerland at all), India, Indonesia, Libya, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates refused to sign the communiqué.

Iraq and Jordan initially supported the agreements, but after the congress, for unknown reasons, withdrew their signatures. Thus, the joint final communiqué of the Global Peace Summit contains the signatures of 78 countries participating in the summit.

Nevertheless, despite some setbacks, it is safe to say that the Peace Summit in Switzerland was a diplomatic defeat for Russia, which made great efforts to discredit the very idea of such an event without Moscow's participation. When it became clear that the congress would take place, the Russians began to persuade other states to reduce their representation and not to sign the declaration following the summit.

Instead, the overwhelming majority of participating countries signed a document that clearly states that Russia is carrying out illegal aggression against Ukraine. Moreover, the leaders of some of these countries made several bold statements. For example, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asserted that sooner or later Russia would be forced to agree to Ukraine's peace terms.

Defending Ukraine means defending the system of rules that unites the international community and protects every country. If Ukraine could not count on our support and would therefore be forced to capitulate, we would not be here today to discuss the minimum conditions for negotiations.Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy

How exactly this will happen can be discussed this year at the next peace summit, which has already been announced by Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to the president, after the congress in Switzerland, "months, not years" will pass before the next meeting is held.

Will Russia be invited to the next Peace Summit?

The feasibility of Russia's participation in the next peace summit has already become a subject of heated debate. Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Russia's presence at the second summit will mean that Russia is ready to end the war and start constructive peace negotiations. He said this at a press conference following the Global Peace Summit in Bürgenstock.

When asked by a journalist whether Ukraine was ready for direct peace talks with Russia if its representatives appeared, Zelenskyy said that the main thing for him was to end the war and achieve a just peace.

You ask what will happen with Russia at the second summit. Their presence there will indicate that they have decided to end the war. I don't want to play with words: they decided, or the world forced them... Today we are fighting for the world to force them, but for us, the result is the most important thing. The result is the end of this war.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

At the same time, the president of Ukraine emphasized that Russia could start peace talks "even tomorrow." However, according to Zelenskyy, any peace talks with Russia are possible only if Russia withdraws its troops from all Ukrainian territories it occupies.

Although the Global Peace Summit had many successes and was generally a success for Ukrainian diplomacy, it also demonstrated the split in the international community over how the war should end. However, most countries in the Global South remain neutral, as friendly relations with China and Russia are more important to them than support for Ukraine and solidarity with Western countries.

At the moment, Russia itself shows no signs of interest in peace. Therefore, the fate of this war is likely to be decided not at peace summits but on the battlefield.