First day of the Peace Summit in Ukraine: countries express their concerns

For the first time, countries from the most diverse horizons and representing all regions of the world They presented their different visions and concerns regarding the war in Ukraine, at an international conference taking place in Switzerland dedicated to gathering ideas on how to engage Russia in peace negotiations.

The nuclear risk that worries Japan so much, the food crisis experienced in Africa due to the interruption of grain exports from Ukraine and fertilizers from Russia, the increase in the costs of imports in Latin America and the existential threat that it represents for Europeans This war came to light in the interventions by at least thirty political leaders who spoke in the plenary session of the summit held in Switzerland.

Each person – from the perspective of their geographical location, their commercial or economic ties with Ukraine or Russia and their own histories of conflict and colonialism – raised how they see the way out of this conflagration, which has left tens of thousands of deaths among the combatant forces and several thousand in the civilian population.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was in charge of starting the event, in a statement in which he celebrated the convening of the peace summit and called it a “success.”

Putin must move from the language of ultimatums to the language of the global majority that wants a just peace

“Our unity here proves that the very idea of ​​international law is still alive and effective, its presence here demonstrates that the UN Charter and conventions are not a formality, but the real foundations of coexistence between peoples,” Zelensky said at the beginning. of the meeting.

The Ukrainian president explained that the objective of the summit is to start working on an action plan for a peace that respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine. and which will later be presented to Russia to try to get it to agree to end the war under these conditions.

“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin must move from the language of ultimatums to the language of the global majority that wants a just peace,” said the Ukrainian president, referring to the message sent by Putin on the eve of the summit, in who stated that he would declare a ceasefire if Ukraine withdraws from the territories annexed by Moscow, which has declared them part of Russia.

Zelensky again explained that the participants will focus on agreeing on a declaration on three of the ten points of the so-called Ukrainian “Peace Formula”: nuclear security, food security and the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians detained or deported by Russia, including children.

“No one has the right to launch a war of aggression against a neighbor or to undermine one of the basic principles of the United Nations Charter, that of the territorial integrity of countries,” Zelensky said.

The different calls from the countries at the summit in Switzerland

After Zelensky’s intervention came the comments of the countries present in the plenary. The United States, for example, once again assured Ukraine that it will continue to stand by its side, supporting it economically and militarily. recognizing that “a just peace” in Ukraine represents a “strategic interest” not only for Washington, but also for the rest of the world.

Along these lines, US Vice President Kamala Harris said that the proposal launched in the last few hours by Russian President Vladimir Putin – regarding that he would accept a ceasefire if Ukraine completely withdraws from the territories that Moscow illegally occupies – demonstrates “that he is not seeking negotiation, but rather a surrender” of the Ukrainians.

European political leaders agreed, in one way or another, that Russia’s ambition to keep Ukrainian territory cannot be missed, Because history has shown that giving up land for peace only increases the imperialist appetite and the risk of aggression against other countries.

However, there was also agreement that it cannot be accepted that this war should be prolonged indefinitely, “because it is dangerous and not sustainable either for Ukraine or for Europe,” stressed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak encouraged maintaining unconditional support for Ukraine, because the surrender that Putin expects “will never happen.” while the French president, Emmanuel Macron, also considered that only with the help of its allies will kyiv be able to resist capitulation.

“What is at stake are our international rules and the possibility of establishing peace everywhere,” said the French head of state, who criticized the fact that Russia is blowing up that international legality.

For Estonia, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas recalled, with a family experience, that Russia has not turned the page on its imperialist history, that her country suffered for half a century and of which her mother, deported as a baby to Siberia, was a direct victim .

On the Latin American side, Chilean President Gabriel Boric defended that out of respect for legality and not for ideological reasons we must be with Ukraine, Because the survival of the international system is at stake here, while his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei considered that peace is directly related to trade and prosperity.

“As defenders of the ideas of freedom, we repudiate any type of violence, between individuals, but in particular, we reject war as an illegitimate mechanism to resolve conflicts between nations,” Milei said in his speech in Bürgenstock.

More on the ground were the interventions of the leaders of Kenya and Ghana, who recalled that The impoverished populations of their countries have directly suffered this conflict due to the excessive increase in the price of cereals. and fertilizers for agricultural work, which has led to food crises in several parts of Africa.

We can prepare the ground for direct negotiations between the opposing parties: that is what we are here for

Kenyan President William Ruto was the only one who criticized the Western countries present in the room, pointing out that they had illegitimately appropriated Russian assets and that this was as legally reprehensible as Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

There were also statements from the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb; the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen; the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda; the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, or the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, who demanded that the summit on Ukraine being held in Switzerland send Russia “a very clear message” that there are principles that are not negotiable.

The summit will continue this Sunday with round tables in which the presidents and delegations of a hundred countries will try to present clear proposals to reduce the nuclear risk from this war, find ways to make it less impactful on food security and raise ideas in favor of prisoners of war and so that adults and children deported by Russia to the territories it controls are returned to Ukraine.

The Swiss president, Viola Amherd, assured that summits are planned in which Russia would eventually participate, and that the current one will allow “concrete steps to be taken” towards “a just and lasting peace.” “We can prepare the ground for direct negotiations between the warring parties: that is what we are here for,” she said.