With its luxury hotels and breathtaking views of Lake Lucerne, Bürgenstock, a small Alpine peak located in Switzerland, is a popular seaside resort for the ultra-rich. But on June 15 and 16, it will host a major peace summit on which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, currently in the middle of a European tour, is banking heavily.
This initiative is more necessary than ever, as Ukraine struggles to resist Russian offensives on the eastern and northeastern fronts, particularly in the Kharkiv region. In total, 90 countries have already confirmed their presence at this event, including most European states. Emmanuel Macron will make the trip, as well as the German Olaf Scholz, the Italian Giorgia Meloni, the Spaniard Pedro Sanchez, who has just signed a bilateral security agreement with kyiv, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen .
One country will be conspicuously absent: Russia, which was not invited by Ukraine. “We don’t see Russia participating in it, because[elle] will block everything”, declared Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday May 27 during a press conference in Madrid. For its part, Moscow is brushing aside this summit. “It is absurd to meet and seriously discuss these issues without the participation of our country”, reacted Dmitri Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremlin, in an interview with the Russian public channel RT. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, even qualified Switzerland, a historically neutral state which organizes the meeting, of “openly hostile country”.
But Russia did not just shrug its shoulders. In recent days, its diplomats have been working behind the scenes to convince many countries in the Global South to boycott the summit. Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Algeria or even Iran and Indonesia will not participate in the discussions. Nor China, Russia’s ally, which conditions its presence on the “equal participation of all parties” and “a fair discussion of all peace plans”. Enough to make the Ukrainian president say that Vladimir Putin is “very afraid” of the summit. India, for its part, is expected to send a representative.
Three main priorities
More annoying, the White House has still not indicated whether Joe Biden will attend this conference. However, he will be in Italy just before, from June 13 to 15, for the G7 summit. “His absence would be like applauding Putin,” Volodymyr Zelensky said from Brussels on Tuesday. Without the American president, this summit of course loses its importance and its power, while the probability of obtaining progress is already minimal.
Managing to bring together so many world leaders remains a diplomatic victory for Ukraine, which is desperate to remobilize the international community behind it. kyiv is asking in particular to be able to strike Russian positions and rear bases on Russian territory with Western weapons, which the Europeans and Americans are currently opposed to for fear of an escalation. Volodymyr Zelensky would also like to highlight his “road map” to end the war: the withdrawal of Russian troops, financial reparations and a special tribunal to judge Russian officials.
In reality, three slightly less ambitious priorities will be discussed at this Swiss summit. First, guarantee free navigation in the Black Sea, in order to protect global food security by allowing the export of Ukrainian grain, largely to developing countries. Then, the cessation of strikes on energy infrastructure, while Russia continues to strike thermal power plants in Ukraine. Finally, the return of thousands of Ukrainian children deported to Russia, which the International Criminal Court described as a crime last year.