Switzerland peace summit backs ‘territorial integrity’ of Ukraine

Though the Ukraine peace summit on Sunday (16 June) outlined a roadmap to peace, many key Global South countries – including Saudi Arabia, Mexico, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Indonesia – did not sign the final declaration.

Around 100 countries and organisations took part in the two-day summit at the Alpine Buergenstock resort in Switzerland, to find a consensus on how to end Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Kyiv’s Western allies tried to use the summit to win a forceful condemnation of the invasion, invoking a UN Charter to safeguard the Ukrainian territorial integrity, rejecting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s demands for parts of Ukraine as a condition for peace.

‘Territorial integrity’

The summit’s final joint communiqué, signed by 80 countries and four international institutions, “respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty (…) can and will serve as a basis for achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”

It also refers to Russia’s invasion as a “war”, a label that Moscow rejects.

“We believe that reaching peace requires the involvement of and dialogue between all parties. We therefore decided to undertake concrete steps (…) with further engagement of the representatives of all parties,” it states.

Three out of the ten points of the peace formula put forward by Ukraine were discussed between participants – nuclear safety, food security and prisoner exchanges – ended up the final statement.

Signatories called for the return of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to Ukrainian control, freedom for the country to export food from all its ports, urged complete exchange of prisoners of war, and the return of Ukrainian children taken by Russia.

“Giving the starting positions it is an achievement that this summit could be held at such a high level,” Swiss President Viola Amherd said after the talks.

Speaking to reporters at the end of talks, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the support of the signatories demonstrates that the rule of international law can be restored.

“I hope that we can achieve results as soon as possible,” Zelenskyy said. “We will prove to everyone in the world that the UN Charter can be restored to full effectiveness.”

Global South buy-in

Ukrainian officials also confirmed that no other peace plans, including Russia’s, had been discussed at the summit.

But despite strong messaging in favour of Ukraine, the talks revealed a split between Western powers and non-Western countries for a future peace settlement.

Notably absent from the signatories list of the joint communiqué, though present at the summit, were Armenia, Brazil, Columbia, Holy See, India, Indonesia, Libya, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

“The countries that did not come to the summit see what is happening – Ukraine is building consensus around the peace formula and this allows us to make enormous steps forward towards a just peace, not at all costs,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters on the sidelines of the summit.

Asked about the problem with the lack of support for Ukraine’s peace plan from key Global South players, Kuleba said “every country has the right to say what it thinks”.

“But the fact that this country is here, the fact that it joins the declaration, and the fact that it offers its services in helping move the process launched at this summit forward, speaks to one very simple thing – that these countries stand by Ukraine and stand by international law,” said Kuleba.

One such example was Saudi Arabia and “the fact that it is here shows that it is committed to the peace process – Riyadh is in the game,” said the Ukrainian foreign minister.

The decision by those participants that didn’t sign the final declaration should not be seen as an ‘ultimate no’, said diplomats with knowledge of the discussions, adding they believe there is room for the follow-up meeting for them to still join.

Next steps

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters it is “going to take work” to expand the broad consensus beyond those who have signed up to the final declaration.

He also pointed towards the ‘split screen’ between the weekend’s Ukraine peace summit and Russia’s ceasefire conditions publicised before the talks.

“It’s going to take a spotlight from the international community, not just from voices from the United States or Europe, but from unusual voices as well to say what Russia has done here is more than reprehensible and must be reversed,” he said.

Ukraine hopes Saudi Arabia could host the next follow-up peace summit, as it is likely to be able to persuade both China to attend, whilst also maintaining good relations with Russia.

“That’s the idea – that the next summit should mean the end of the war – and of course, we need the other side [Russia] to be at the table,” said Kuleba.

“We understand perfectly that a time will come when it will be necessary to talk to Russia,” Kuleba told reporters.

“But our position is very clear: We will not allow Russia to speak in the language of ultimatums like it is speaking now.”

[Edited by Rajnish Singh]

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