Ukraine peace summit gets underway with over 90 countries | DW News

leaders from more than 90 countries and international institutions are in Switzerland as Ukraine tries to persuade countries to sign up to its peace plan President Vladimir zalinski greeted officials as they arrived at the meeting in the resort town of Borgen stock NOW Russia wasn’t invited and its main backer China is also absent German Chancellor Olaf Schultz French president Emanuel macron and US vice president KLA Harris are there now president zilinsky Justified excluding Russia from the proceedings and said that Moscow would be informed when the time was right there is no Russia here why because if Russia was interested in peace there would be no war we must decide together what a just pce means for the world and how it can be achieved in a truly lasting way the UN Charter is the basis for us and then when the action plan is on the table agreed by all and transparent for the peoples then it will be communicated to the representatives of Russia let’s take a closer look at this with Orissa Lich who’s deputy director of the Russia and uraia program at the chattam house Think Tank and heads their Ukraine forum she joins us from London welcome to DW the way president zilinsky was talking there this meeting sounds less like an actual peace conference and more a way for Ukraine’s backers to present Russia with what they hope will be a fat compete how do you see it I see this as a quite serious effort Global effort to build the second track to finding a solution for peace in Ukraine the first track is of course military uh this uh the outlines of the future peace will be decided on the battlefield because we do see so far two sides pushing and especially Russia side that is pushing this diplomatic track the summit on peace in Ukraine is a way for Kev to demonstrate that is indeed seeking uh a negotiated uh outcome that will satisfy international law and um it’s significant that the global agenda uh the players of throughout the globe are actually convening to look at what could be steps uh that will ensure peace but I think this is peace the day after uh military campaign is over not exactly leading to uh the cation of hostilities because to be honest at the moment uh there’s no will from the Russian side to uh take any C’s fire in honesty right um alternative proposals though from Russia from China from Brazil who are all not there that to one side is there concern ensus amongst the attendees on Ukraine’s proposals I think what Ukraine is trying to do is to unite the world around the UN chter and it is clear how often president zalinski mentions the UN chter it is basically trying to say that the borders should not be violated by force because what Chinese as you call alternative Sixpoint plan suggests is that it’s okay actually to change borders by force the might is right and let’s freeze the situation in order to um in order to basically restore Global Connections and to lift sanctions on Russia but that is actually rewarding the perpetrator and this is why not only Ukraine but many other members of The Summit insist that Russia should not only uh withdraw its troops from Ukraine but also be held account for the war crimes it is committing in Ukraine okay so as you say what’s being discussed there in Switzerland is essentially for the day after there is a military cessation it is more likely that this is going to drag on for years and years and years and we we’ve heard from the European commission president Ursula felion saying that a frozen conflict uh is what she called a recipe for disaster um do you think there will be a clear win one way or the other on this or will this drag on we are living as this war unfolds I I don’t think nobody knows fully but I can tell with Clarity that it depends very much on what actions we take today nations of the world Ukraine its allias and this defines actually the duration of this war the protraction of the conflict is playing in Russia’s and Chinese hands Europe is suffering with Ukrainian refugees with constant shellings with the genocidal type of War where Russians are you know deporting Ukrainian children torturing prisoners of War burning libraries so um the decisions we take today will Define how long this war lasts the west and its and Ukraine’s allies are not impartial in this War I think that’s important to understand if we really say it’s existential then we have to take a decision today to prove it thank you for joining us arisio Lich from chattam house thank you so much thank you uh our chief political correspondent Nina haza is there at the Swiss Resort of burgenstock Welcome Nina let’s start with the objection that we heard in our report from China what is the point of peace conference without Russian participation well when you enter this area here that is extremely well protected high security everywhere you see posters where it says path to peace but if you want to stay in this image what really is happening here today is that um people around the world are taking small baby steps on a very very difficult hike up a very very Steep Hill so nobody’s expecting peace between Russia and Ukraine to be broken here today but the hope is that this Summit can lay the ground for another Summit where potentially Russia could then attend but of course a lot of things need to happen between now and then now Russia was not invited this time around and this is we’re hearing because Russia when it heard that the summit was going to take place said straight away that it didn’t think much of this idea and so wasn’t going to turn up anyway now the interesting point of of course is that president zilinski said that he’s extremely proud to have all continents represented here in Switzerland today um but if you look at the details that is extremely interesting when you look at who is representing their countries countries like India and Indonesia so countries that don’t want to pick sides between the West so the supporters of Ukraine and uh their allies Russia they are not sending their top leaders to this Summit they’re sending ministers or diplomats but this is an opportunity essentially for people around the world to get some face-to-face opportunity to have serious talks about finding a way forward really but again small baby steps so given those Lowered Expectations what can we expect to come out of today’s meeting yeah Lowered Expectations indeed German Chancellor Olaf schz compared it today to uh a small plant that needs watering so we’re hearing that a document is indeed in the making but of course the wording is going to be very tricky indeed Ukrainian president zilinski is also here in Switzerland today and he tried to remind everybody that it’s really Russia that is the aggressor that Ukraine is the victim and that uh people need to be reminded of this and the Ukrainian president has uh three topics that he wants to discuss here where he thinks that it’s got the potential to find minimal consensus amongst all those countries in terms of the ban on the use of nuclear weapons F food security and the issue of deported children from Ukraine those are issues where he is hoping that there can be an agreement between all the countries around the world that they’ll reaffirm that these things need to be sorted out need to be dealt with so that there they can reaffirm their commitment to the UN Charter for example that some countries are saying Russia has violated but of course the details in other topics are much trickier when we hear that William Ruto for example from Kenya says that Russia’s War needs to be condemned but at the same time he says all parties to the war need to soften their positions okay thank you Nina DW’s Chief political correspondent Nina haza at the Ukraine peace Summit in Switzerland

Switzerland is hosting scores of world leaders this weekend as they discuss the first building blocks of a peace process to end the war in Ukraine. Prime ministers, presidents and other high-ranking representatives from more than 90 countries, as well as from international organizations, are attending. Russia was frozen out of proceedings after dismissing the event as a waste of time.

00:00 Intro
01:10 Orysia Lutsevych, Head of Ukraine Forum, Chatham House
05:47 Nina Haase, DW Chief Political Correspondent

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23 comments

  5. Good this is happening. Progress on the path to peace between Russia and Ukraine.

    It would be helpful if China came to the table too for constructive dialogue and a fair plus achievable peace plan.

    Russia can come later on, when the time is right…

  6. Zelensky always wanted to visit Switzerland and so he tried to get all his friends to come along but the Boss Biden had better things to do such as getting Hollywood money.

  11. The Ukrainian “president” put forward his dreams, divorced from reality. Russia has put forward its conditions, if they are not accepted, then the next one will be the adoption of a new constitution by the remnants of Ukraine.

  15. With so many countries together, it would make sense to ideate on a revision of the UN Charter, including

    UN will accept only global / national leaders among its members, who possess a moral compass, are sound of mind, and of pre- retirement age.

    countries or regimes which do wage a war of aggression, cannot remain in the “Board” or Security Council, and

    both the Global South and East should be represented.

    Let us make International Law work for us, for us to make our dream come true❤️🕊️🧘‍♀️

  17. Ukraine was signed by an illegitimate representative, an ex-president whose term expired under the Constitution, and who did not organize timely elections, who is no longer a "lame duck", but an "Overdue Loser".

  21. ‘territorial integrity of Serbia also need to be respected and give it back Serbian land Kosovo stolen by USA and some of the NATO countries by force in 1999 against UN and international law. and resolution 1244 with is now in full power. Stop playing double standards lads, cos not gonna happen''.

  23. Nato has poisoned the whole of Europe and the United States with its military aggression. For many years now, NATO has been doing nothing but threatening all countries with an attack on them and has turned from a defensive organization into an attack organization.

    Remember how it all started 2 years ago!

    Nato said that the maximum assistance to Ukraine would be in humanitarian aspects, food, body armor… What is NATO saying now? It tells the countries of the alliance to start a war against Russia!!!

    NATO has gone mad, those who run this military alliance have gone mad! They have poisoned all countries with their aggression and are inciting the planet to nuclear destruction.

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