Swiss Summit Says Ukraine’s ‘Territorial Integrity’ Must Be Basis Of Any Peace

Sunday’s major Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland, where some 100 countries were represented, has rejected the conditions named by Russia’s Vladimir Putin for immediately ending the war.

A final document produced by the summit, which 78 of the countries signed off on, asserted that the basis of any future Ukraine-Russia peace deal to end the war must preserve the “territory integrity” of Ukraine.

Via AFP

Referencing the UN charter, the document lays out that “respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty … can and will serve as a basis for achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”

“We believe that reaching peace requires the involvement of and dialogue between all parties,” it additionally said.

While the vast majority of countries agreed to the document, the representatives of India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates did not sign it, according to The Associated Press.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressed the conditions for peace that Putin spelled out at the end of last week, saying:

“It was not a peace negotiation because Putin is not serious about ending the war. He is insisting on capitulation. He is insisting on ceding Ukrainian territory — even territory that today is not occupied by him,” she said.

“He is insisting on disarming Ukraine, leaving it vulnerable to future aggression. No country would ever accept these outrageous terms.”

She was referencing his Friday televised address wherein the Russian leader said, “Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.” Putin also stipulated a second main condition for ending the war: Ukraine must reject ambitions to join the NATO alliance. 

“As soon as Kyiv says it is ready to do this and begins really withdrawing troops and officially renounces plans to join NATO, we will immediately — literally that very minute — cease-fire and begin talks,” Putin said in the talk given to a gathering of his foreign ministry officials. But leaders gathered in Switzerland over the weekend, including Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni, rejected Putin’s overture as but “propaganda”.

Both Russia and China have suggested that the two-day peace conference being held in Burgenstock is futile without Russia’s presence and participation, and is ultimately but a PR stunt.

Meanwhile an interesting and awkward moment last week at the G7 summit in Italy…

Ominous moment at the G7 today. Zelensky says he had a personal phone conversation with President Xi, and Xi assured him that China will not give Russia weapons to use against Ukraine. Biden chimes in to semi-correct Zelensky, alleges that China “is in fact helping Russia” pic.twitter.com/Qil8XgM9GI

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) June 13, 2024

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the outcome of the summit on Sunday. He said, “We’ll prove to everyone in the world that the UN Charter can be restored to full effectiveness.” He said of countries which have yet to sign on to the final document may still do so as it is ‘open’… “Even countries that are now thinking to join it have consultations ongoing in their respective countries,” Zelensky announced.

Given that G7 leaders have also this weekend agreed to more long term funding for Ukraine, to the tune of $50 billion and while using some $280 billion in frozen Russian assets to do it, the prospect of legitimate peace negotiations now seem as far away as ever.