Supported by the Western allies, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnky refused Moscow’s latest terms during the weekend’s Summit on Peace in Ukraine in Switzerland, which he declared a success after the majority of participants agreed with his 10 points to base further negotiations on. However, BRICS members, including China and India, refused to sign the final resolution, casting doubt on Ukraine’s global support.
The peace conference took place on Sunday, June 16th, in the Swiss town of Bürgenstock, where representatives of 101 countries and entities came together to discuss Ukraine’s proposed path to peace. The country that wasn’t invited to the summit was Russia, but this didn’t stop Putin from sending his own plan.
The Russian proposal put forward two days before the summit kicked off demands Ukraine recognize the four regions occupied by Russia in exchange for the promise of withdrawal. “As soon as Kyiv agrees to fully withdraw from Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia and starts this process, we are ready to start negotiations,” Putin said on Friday.
Furthermore, the “ultimatum”—as Zelesnky called it—would also have Ukraine demilitarized and give up on NATO membership, as well as the West lifting all sanctions and similarly recognizing Russia’s claim over the annexed regions, including Crimea.
“If Kyiv and West refuse, they will take full responsibility for further bloodshed,” Putin added.
Naturally, Zelensky and the Western leaders refused these terms. “There will be no compromise on independence or territorial integrity,” Andry Yermak, Zelensky’s chief advisor said in Bürgenstock. “Ultimatums don’t work with Ukraine, and our people proved that on the battlefield in the past two years.”
Reaching a broad consensus behind his 10-point peace formula, Zelensky declared the peace conference a major success in his two-step plan of creating an international platform to pressure Russia into withdrawal.
After agreeing on the vague outline together, “now it is time for a series of bilateral meetings around the world which in the end will bring a common concrete plan for actions towards peace,” Zelensky said.
However, it is telling that only 82 participants out of the 101 signed the final resolution in the end. Those who didn’t include major players in the BRICS, the China-led economic cooperation forum rivaling the G7, such as India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the UAE, and BRICS-candidate Thailand, as well as other large countries like Mexico and Indonesia. China itself did not attend, casting doubt on the viability of Zelensky’s preferred approach of involving “Russia-friendly” countries in the effort.
“In our view, only those options acceptable to both parties can lead to abiding peace,” India’s foreign ministry stated. “In line with this approach, we have decided to avoid association with a joint communique or any other document emerging from this summit.”
The Biden administration—represented by Vice President Kamala Harris, as the U.S. President skipped the meeting in favor of a campaign event—also praised Zelensky for the conference, saying that he “managed to gather the whole world.” However, it is not even certain the U.S.’ support for the plan will hold for long, as there is a chance that former President Donald Trump will return to the White House with a radically different Ukraine policy.
“He just left four days ago with $60 billion, and he gets home, and he announces that he needs another $60 billion. It never ends,” Trump said on Sunday in Detroit while calling Zelensky “the greatest salesman of all time,” and adding that he would end the war as soon as elected as President this November.
“I will have [the war] settled prior to taking the White House as president-elect,” Trump said.
