Ukraine Peace Summit: Why some nations didn’t sign the declaration | DW News

Ukraine Peace Summit: Why some nations didn’t sign the declaration | DW News

some 80 nations want the territorial Integrity of Ukraine to be the basis of any agreement to end two years of war with Russia the call came after a two-day Summit on peace in Switzerland to which Russia was not invited moscow’s Ally China did not attend either more than a dozen countries including major non-aligned Nations chose not to endorse the final declaration the Swiss Summit was the first high level Forum focused on a pathway to peace rather than the war effort it was also an attempt by the West to involve other countries in peace efforts based on international law this is not about right or left political ideas this is not about Northern or Southern countries this is about respect of international law and human rights as foundational principles of our living together the consequences of the invasion go far beyond the confines of Europe indeed in many ways Africa has been the greatest victim of the conflict and the blockade of the Black Sea have had devastating impacts on our economies on our standards of living the document signed by 84 countries and other groups calls for concrete action on three major issues scy the three challenges have been analyzed in detail at the first peace Summit nuclear safety food security and the release of prisoners and depes including thousands thousands of children abducted by Russia welc but delegates were clear about the summit’s limits Russia wasn’t invited but days before the meeting President Vladimir Putin laid out his own vision for peace he’s insisting on capitulation he’s insisting on seeding Ukrainian territory even territory that today does not uh is not occupied by him he’s insisting on disarming Ukraine leaving it vulnerable to Future aggression no country would ever accept these outrageous terms 13 Nations did not endorse the document including bricks members India Saudi Arabia and South Africa and several countries accused Western nations of observing a double standard with regards to other conflicts we can not be talking about peace and here we join South Africa without mentioning other humanitarian strategies as the one taking place in Gaza international law in the UN Charter must be respected in every case there was no con consensus on how Russia should be brought to the negotiating table but zilinsky said he was already in talks with several Nations about hosting a second Summit to continue to push for Ukraine’s Liberation DW’s Rosie Bard was at the summit and joins us now from Switzerland Rosie expectations were low going into this Summit what if anything did it achieve practically very little and that’s because this Summit despite the fact it was called a peace Summit a peace conference organizers going in knew that little would be done more than a perhaps a baby step inching along a long path toward peace and that’s because Russia was not at the table here it was not invited and it showed no interest in showing up and in solidarity its biggest Ally China also boycotted the talks but this was really a test of polit politics and diplomacy within the context of a very fractured world the war in Ukraine Russia’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine has really tested allegiances and divided the globe um Russia on the one hand going around the world pushing its narrative that it’s the victim and on the other hand Ukraine and particularly its Western backwards arguing that if Russia is allowed to invade Ukraine without consequences if one UN member is allowed to violate the territorial Integrity of another that it will have Ripple effects not only for people in Ukraine who are of course fighting for their territory but for the the rest of the world and that’s something which really I think in the end of as the dust settles in this Summit really is a mixed bag in terms of how did the diplomacy land here in Switzerland you described uh the summit as a test of diplomacy Rosie numerous countries refused to sign the final declaration what are we to make of that yeah Ukraine says this is a big success Vladimir zinsky I was in The Press Room when he bounded out he struck a very optimistic tone he talks about the fact 22 countries showed up from all continents and indeed that was historic it was the first of its kind at the highest level but really Terry that is not the whole story because some countries which decided to come decided not to put their name on this final communic so essentially quite a public snub and those include diplomatic heavy weights from the so-called Global South including Indonesia South Africa Saudi Arabia India and I think that will be seen very much as a disappointment for Ukraine still the Ukraine president trying to spin this really as as as a big achievement and of course he was saying that look other countries may join in future but really I think it’s in in some sense kind of a tale of two Summits here where you have the ukrainians saying they’ve managed to Garner international support and showed the strength of it but on the other hand we really did see coming to the for some divisions and cracks Rosie thank you very much our correspondent Rosie bch out there in Switzerland let’s get analysis now with Rafael loss he’s a security and defense expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations thanks for being with us uh Rafael this Summit was aimed at helping somehow to resolve the war in Ukraine has it done that I think it is a first step towards establishing a second track towards ending the war um it was termed as a as a p Summit what we saw play out um uh over the weekend was a creation of three tracks focusing on food security um uh nuclear security and and the um release of of prisoners and and detainees um this is something of an agenda that successive meetings is are supposed to build on uh the signatories of the joint communic agreed to establish working groups to make progress on these um and so hopefully this is a first step towards a more Consolidated um uh effort that will eventually involve other stakeholders as well that so far chose to abstain from this process at the end of The Summit there’s a declaration that the delegates were asked to sign several influential countries refused to sign it how significant is that uh that is somewhat significant but um I wouldn’t read it as a uh refusal of the of the terms of the joint communic all of those countries have have different reasons I think um to not sign on at this point some are dependent on Russia for fertilizers for fossil fuels um other economic Goods some maintain close um political relationships including through the bricks format um others are hoping to maybe host a next Summit that could bring to the table Russian delegates as well and they don’t want to um foreclose that that possibility by now signing this initial declaration um but I think it is significant that those countries still chose to send representatives to the summit and that it is a success what would need to happen do you think to bring more countries on board with the principles laid out in the final declaration particularly the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial Integrity I think one of the factors that is being uh under discussed is that um it’s difficult for for any country um to sign on to an agreement um uh that uh criticizes a party to a war that that seems to be in a good place um to maybe win it um another factor is the US presidential election later this year um more significant maybe even than this first um Peace Summit in Switzerland everyone is looking at the US presidential election its outcome on what that means for uh us support towards Ukraine if that recedes under future for example Trump Administration um then Russia could continue gaining ground in Ukraine and few countries would be willing then to to um uh criticize the the the potential future Victor in this in this um ongoing War um but it calls into question of course the the so-called rules-based International order we’ve heard from several um so-called Global South Representatives um in Switzerland that this is not only imagination of this the the West the Western countries but that it is a foundation for how it interational relations should be structured for the benefit of everyone now Russia seems to be planning on a long war in Ukraine and hoping that support for Ukraine will will Peter out you’ve suggested that the momentum right now is on Russia’s side uh is that how you see it Ukraine has been able to stabilize the front line over the past couple of weeks since um the US decision to supply additional milit a um passed through Congress uh European countries have up their support in significant ways as well looking at the area of air defense in particular um there’s progress to be expected um but as vadir zinski said um Ukraine is not yet in a position to reverse Russia’s gains um uh and that leaves Russia with few incentives um uh to come to any kind of negotiating table when it is um uh banking on US presidential election that might return Donald Trump to the White House who has threatened one must say to end the war in 24 hours assuming um uh that this means forcing Ukraine into giving up Rafael thank you very much for talking with us today that was Rafael lot of the European Council on Foreign Relations

Some 80 nations want the territorial integrity of Ukraine to be the basis of any agreement to end two years of war with Russia. The call came after a two-day summit on peace in Switzerland to which Russia was not invited. Moscow’s ally China did not attend either. More than a dozen countries including major non-aligned nations chose not to endorse the final declaration.

00:00 Intro and report
03:15 DW’s Rosie Birchard reports from Bürgenstock, Switzerland
05:59 Analysis from Rafael Loss, security and defense expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations

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