Officials from more than 100 countries gathered in Switzerland over the weekend to discuss ways to end the conflict in Ukraine, devising a “peace formula” even as Western leaders continue to flood the battlefield with weapons.
The conference kicked off on Saturday near the city of Lucerne, where delegations from the US, Germany, France, and scores of other states met to consider how to achieve a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine.” However, a joint communique issued by the participants on Sunday offered no new proposals, instead repeating generic statements about Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” and the “principles of sovereignty.”
In place of a workable peace plan, the joint statement outlined three basic points regarding the safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine, the importance of food security and the global supply chain, and the need for prisoner of war exchanges between Kiev and Moscow. It went on to reiterate past United Nations resolutions calling for an end to the war.
Ahead of her speech at the meeting on Saturday, US Vice President Kamala Harris announced an additional $1.5 billion in aid for Kiev. This includes funds to rebuild infrastructure, $379 million in humanitarian assistance, and another $300 million to support “civilian security.” The new package follows the over $50 billion in US military aid already supplied throughout the war, including long-range missiles, main battle tanks, and other heavy weapons.
While Russia was deliberately excluded from the conference in Switzerland, the joint statement nonetheless said that “peace requires the involvement of and dialogue between all parties,” suggesting “concrete steps” toward diplomacy at an unspecified date in the future. The communique did not elaborate on what steps might be taken, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a peace plan would be transmitted to Russia once it was finalized.
The contents of that proposal have yet to be seen, but Zelensky has repeatedly called for an immediate end to hostilities and a Russian troop withdrawal from Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders. The Kremlin has rejected those terms outright, however, instead urging Kiev to vacate four regions seized by Russian forces, give up territorial claims to Crimea, and agree to never join NATO.
Noting Moscow’s conspicuous absence at the meeting, a number of countries refused to sign the final joint statement, with India’s Foreign Ministry saying it “did not associate itself with any communique/document emerging from this summit.”
“We continue to believe that such a resolution requires a sincere and practical engagement between the two parties to the conflict,” the ministry said, adding that New Delhi attended the conference only “to facilitate a lasting and peaceful resolution to the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.”
Other nations and territories also declined to endorse the document, including Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Libya, and the Vatican. In his own statement, Indonesian diplomat Swajaya Ngurah stressed the need for “consistency” in applying international law and said Russia must have a role in any peace talks.
Will Porter is assistant news editor at the Libertarian Institute and a regular contributor at Antiwar.com. Find more of his work at Consortium News and ZeroHedge.
'War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.'
Exactly. Military Summary: "Make no mistake. This is not a Peace Summit–This is a War Summit."
It's a charity war summit…!
There won't be a serious peace process until China gets engaged and both Russia and Ukraine both become involved.
They were intentionally excluded.
Useless Conference…!
For sure! Why do these countries even show up when they know its useless before it starts? One sided ant-diplomacy–what the USA does best.
Figure out how to divide up the vigorish – that’s why
Ahead of her speech at the meeting on Saturday, US Vice President Kamala Harris announced an additional $1.5 billion in aid for Kiev. This includes funds to rebuild infrastructure, $379 million in humanitarian assistance, and another $300 million to support “civilian security.”
Another example of tiny Ukraine subduing a much larger foe. Just as long as someone provides the weapons and keeps their society from crumbling. Oh, and they need another 500,000 troops. But other than that…..
Was she able to announce this without the cackle?
So they exclude Russia out of this peace plan and invite someone whose presidency ended in May and the country is on autopilot?
I believe that only 92 countries attended, not over 100.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/en…
There might have been 100 attendees if non national organizations such as the Euorpean Parliament, etc, are added to the total.
Only 78 countries signed on to the proposed statement.
https://apnews.com/article/…
The statement was watered down and apparently did NOT include an explicit call for Russian withdrawl from the occupied oblasts.
"Notably, the draft communiqué didn’t urge Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine’s sovereign territory."
https://euromaidanpress.com… https://www.reuters.com/wor… https://euromaidanpress.com…
Besides the countries mentioned as declining to endorse the document, I believe it is accurate, and fair, to conclude that the non attendees also so declined. This would mean that, out of the larger countries in the world, China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Mexico, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Egypt, and, of course, Russia, among others, refused to go along with the sham.
Here is a photo of the list of those countries that did go along.
https://euromaidanpress.com…
160+ heads of state or government were invited. Only 57 attended. 70 countries or so of the national invitees did not attend at all. There are over a 190 countries in the world. A distinct minority, in terms of number of countries (78) and the per cent of the world's population they represent, endorsed the proposal, which, again, was watered down.
All things considered, I think it is fair to say that the summit was a failure.
More countries bail on BS communique:
"Iraq and Rwanda among countries to remove signatures from Ukraine peace communique
"Iraq and Rwanda are among the countries to have withdrawn their signatures from the communique signed at last weekend's Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland, it has emerged.
**************************************************
"…included on the list of signatories were Iraq and Rwanda, though their names have since been struck off the list published on the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs website.
"Jordan has also reportedly been taken off the list.
"The process of making adjustments to the list is 'still ongoing,' according to Swiss foreign ministry spokesman Valentin Kliwa."
https://news.sky.com/story/…
It is great that 100 countries brought their cash to Switzerland so Zelensky can deposit it into his personal accounts more easily!!
Oh yes, P.S. FJB