On the 15th and 16th, the “Ukraine Peace Summit” was held in the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock, in a complex owned by Sheikh Nawaf bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani. This is a Qatari emir, part of the Al-Thani family that rules Qatar and who was sentenced in January this year, in Switzerland, to 6 years for corruption.
The event was attended by 92 countries, 57 were represented at the level of heads of state or government, 30 at ministerial level and 5 states had special envoys. 8 international organizations were also present, three of them belonging to the European Union. Russia was not represented.
Among the participating states considered partners of the Russian Federation, there are: Bahrain, Hungary, India, Iraq, Mexico, India, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Thailand, represented at ministerial level while Brazil, Indonesia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa had special envoys. Central Asian states, China, Iran, Vietnam, were not present. It is important to note that the states that continue to develop relations with the Russian Federation were not represented by the heads of state, while the countries that oppose US hegemony were not even present (and probably some of them were not invited).
It is known that 160 countries were invited to participate but only 92 answered affirmatively and only 57 were present at the level of heads of state or government, as is the format of the summit. Normally, we should exclude the Member States of the European Union from the list, given the largely homogeneous and consensus-and-compromise nature of their foreign policies. The list of participants thus decreases dramatically (-27), even more so if we refer only to the number of countries represented at high level.
A significant number of large and/or influential countries refused to sign the summit communiqué. These countries include: Saudi Arabia, India, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said on Saturday, June 15, that any credible talks for peace in Ukraine would need Russia’s participation and would require a “difficult compromise.”
Russian news agencies on Sunday quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that President Vladimir Putin does not rule out the possibility of talks with Ukraine, but guarantees will be needed to ensure the credibility of the talks. According to Peskov, President Putin said that Moscow will immediately start peace talks with Kyiv once the Ukrainians withdraw their troops from Donbass and the regions recently annexed by Moscow.
The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, attended the summit and met, among others, the leader of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, the High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
Zurabishvili accused Russia of aggression against Kyiv and argued that Ukrainians are fighting not only for their freedom, but for all the ideals of democracy. She went on to say that Georgia, like Ukraine and Moldova, belongs to the European Union.
I thank the President of Georgia for her support and participation in the summit. It is very important for us. We are together. I am sure that the day will come when Ukraine and Georgia will become part of the EU – together and forever.
VLADIMIR ZELENSKY
Zurabishvili discussed the upcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia (in October 2024) with Andrzej Duda. According to her, the elections will be the most important test of Georgian democracy. She said she was confident in the victory of the opposition “because the majority of the country’s inhabitants support the European path of development”. She said the same thing to Borrell.
The country’s Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze (of the Georgian Dream party), said on June 5 that the “Ukrainization of Georgia” would not work, and the Kiev leadership was appointed from abroad and is not responsible for the decisions made. However, on June 11 he flew to Berlin to attend a conference on the restoration of Ukraine, where he said that despite the difficulties in bilateral relations, Tbilisi would provide “maximum assistance” to the Ukrainian people. Kobakhidze stressed that his government supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He also said on another occasion that he was confident in Georgia’s integration into the European Union: Georgian Prime Minister expresses confidence in the country’s accession to the EU by 2030.
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