More than 80 countries and international organisations have endorsed Ukraine’s territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s invasion in a joint communique issued at the end of a peace conference in Switzerland. The final statement of the summit in Bürgenstock said the UN charter, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states “can and will serve as a basis in achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine”. It called for Ukraine’s control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and its Azov Sea ports to be restored.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told the closing news conference that “Russia and their leadership are not ready for a just peace”, while welcoming the “first steps toward peace”. “Russia can start negotiations with us even tomorrow without waiting for anything – if they leave our legal territories,” he said.
The final document also called for all prisoners of war to be released in a “complete exchange” and for all Ukrainian children who had been “deported and unlawfully displaced” to be returned to Ukraine. Working groups at the summit also addressed the issues of global food security and nuclear safety.
However, western powers and their allies failed to persuade major non-aligned states to join the final statement as India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates all withheld their signatures from the communique. Brazil attended as an observer and did not endorse the text. Russia was not invited and China snubbed the event.
The European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, called for “patience and determination” after the summit that was attended by more than 90 countries. “It was not a peace negotiation because [the Russian president, Vladimir] Putin is not serious about ending the war, he’s insisting on capitulation, he’s insisting on ceding Ukrainian territory – even territory that today is not occupied.”
