The Ukraine peace summit held in Switzerland on June 14-15 did not include representatives from Russia, who were not invited.
Swiss President Viola Amherd told reporters last week that the summit was based on peace proposals presented by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which Russia rejected.
Moscow confirmed that it was not invited to the summit but said it would not have attended in the first place since it opposes Zelenskyy’s peace proposals.
According to President Amherd, the aim of the summit was to lay out a possible path toward peace and “to provide a platform to initiate dialogue.”
About half of the countries invited sent their heads of state or senior leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The US delegation included Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
The summit was held in Obbürgen at the Bürgenstock resort on Lake Lucerne.
China and Brazil refused to take part in the summit unless officials from both Ukraine and Russia participated, Swiss officials said. Beijing, which has developed closer ties with Moscow in the wake of the Ukraine war, said it would be hard for the Swiss to meet its criteria for participating in the summit.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told reporters last Monday that Switzerland has repeatedly said that the peace process must include Russia. He said Swiss officials had been in frequent contact with Kremlin officials about the peace summit that was coordinated with the help of President Zelenskyy. He explained that the Swiss had to consider the possibility that Ukraine may have refused to participate if Russian officials were invited.
For his part, President Zelenskyy accused Russia and China of attempting to undermine the summit.
Swiss officials hope that the summit will set the course to achieve a “lasting peace” in Ukraine by reaching a “common understanding” on how to proceed and establishing a “roadmap” to get both Russia and Ukraine involved in peace talks.
