By AFP | 2024-06-17

KYIV -- World leaders June 16 backed Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity, and the need for eventual talks with Russia on ending the war.

More than two years after Russia invaded, leaders and top officials from more than 90 states spent the weekend at a Swiss mountainside resort for a two-day summit dedicated to resolving the largest European conflict since World War II.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the diplomatic "success" of the event. The path was open for a second peace summit, with a view to ending the war with a just and lasting settlement, he added.

Russia was not invited.

"Russia and their leadership are not ready for a just peace," Zelenskyy told the closing news conference.

"Russia can start negotiations with us even tomorrow without waiting for anything -- if they leave our legal territories."

Moscow, meanwhile, doubled down on its demand for Kyiv's effective surrender as a starting point for negotiations.

'Challenging' road ahead

"Reaching peace requires the involvement of and dialogue between all parties," said the summit's final communique, backed by the vast majority of countries that attended the gathering at the Burgenstock complex overlooking Lake Lucerne.

The document reaffirmed a commitment to the "sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all states, including Ukraine, within their internationally recognised borders."

Any threat or use of nuclear weapons in the war is "inadmissible," and food security "must not be weaponized," it added.

The declaration urged a full exchange of prisoners of war and the return to Ukraine of "all deported and unlawfully displaced children," and other unlawfully detained Ukrainian civilians.

But not all attendees backed the joint communique. India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were among those who did not appear on a list of states endorsing it.

While the declaration committed countries to taking "concrete steps... to further engagement of the representatives of all parties," it was still not clear how Russia was to be brought into the process.

"The road ahead is long and challenging," Swiss President Viola Amherd conceded.

Global consequences

The Burgenstock talks were framed around areas of common ground between Zelenskyy's 10-point peace plan presented in late 2022, and a 2023 United Nations (UN) resolution on the war that passed with the support of 141 countries.

Switzerland set a tight remit to try to garner the broadest support by sticking firmly to topics covered by international law and the UN Charter -- and from there, sketch out a framework towards a lasting peace.

The summit June 16 focused on food security and freedom of navigation on the Black Sea, nuclear safety and security to curb the risk of a disaster, and humanitarian issues including the return of deported children or the welfare of POWs.

Standing beside Zelenskyy, Chilean President Gabriel Boric told the closing press conference that the summit was not about NATO, left or right political convictions or North versus South debates.

"This is about respect of international law and human rights as foundational principles of our living together. And this is applicable in Ukraine, in Gaza and in every other conflict in the world," he said.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo stressed the war's impact on food exports from Ukraine and how the conflict had sent inflation soaring, harming living standards in some of the world's poorest countries.

"The consequences of the invasion go far beyond the confines of Europe," he said. "Indeed in many ways, Africa has been the greatest victim."

Akufo-Addo said a method should be found whereby Russia and China join in the talks process "if we're ever going to arrive at a definitive settlement."

Zelenskyy called for Beijing, which refused to send a delegation to the summit because of Russia's absence, to engage seriously with the developing peace proposals.