Dozens of world leaders are set to gather in Switzerland on Saturday and Sunday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in what’s being hailed as a ‘first step’ towards peace in Ukraine, but Russia will not be involved.
The ‘High-Level Conference on Peace in Ukraine,’ is scheduled to take place at the Burgenstock resort, on the heels of a Group of 7 meeting from Thursday to Saturday in southern Italy, which Zelensky is attending.
G7 leaders aim to agree on using interest from frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, which has been under a deadly Russian offensive since February 2022.
In Switzerland, Zelensky will join representatives from over 90 countries and organisations, including French President Emmanuel Macron, US Vice President Kamala Harris and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Roughly half of the leaders present will be from Europe.
Ukraine hopes to secure broad international support by outlining the conditions it believes necessary to end the war.
Russia, however, has repeatedly stated that holding a summit without its participation ‘makes no sense.’ It has criticised Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposed ‘peace formula’, primarily involving the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, financial reparations from Moscow and the creation of a special tribunal to judge Russian officials.
Moscow also claims that Switzerland lost its neutrality by aligning with European sanctions.
Of the BRICS group of five emerging countries including which Russia, only India has publicly confirmed its attendance.
China and Brazil find it hard to participate without Moscow, and South Africa’s participation remains uncertain.
