Ukraine Peace Summit: A Possible Reconciliation?

Each year on a periodic basis, the Peace Summit is held, a high-level global conference that arises under the yoke of the war between Russia and Ukraine, with the aim of generating comprehensive agreements to achieve peace and end the conflict.

With 92 participating countries and more than 50 heads of state present at this year's summit held in Switzerland on June 15 and 16, several elements stand out that will redefine the course of international relations, in a context where more than ever, there is a need to ensure international peace and security.

The Absence of Moscow and the Need for Dialogue

Among the most relevant elements of the conference was the absence of Moscow, which had already been announced as a condition due to the refusal to withdraw from Ukraine in the disputed territories. The absence of Russia at the Peace Summit threatens to fragment the process of laying the foundations for a possible peace agreement between the two nations.

Russia continues to reject listening to collective calls and participating in dialogue and negotiation processes, maintaining a stance in favor of continued aggression in Ukrainian territory. Achieving peace requires great efforts from both sides of the conflict and even from their allies. Therefore, as long as Russia is not part of the equation, a consolidated peace process will not be seen in the medium or even long term.

Given this premise, Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, reiterated his hope of achieving “a just peace as soon as possible” expressing the importance of the summit as a forum that hosts agreed peace processes, and who stated that action plans and peace proposals will be presented to Russia once these are agreed upon by the international community.

The Role of Alliances

Alliances play an important role in the conflict, as they not only represent the aligned interests of some nations but could also be balancing elements. In recent months, the international community has witnessed how some states have been modifying their discourse regarding the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. A clear example is Brazil, which through its spokesperson and Head of State Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, had reiterated the importance of engaging in negotiations and addressing the dispute through the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

However, on this occasion, replicating Russia's stance, heads of state members of the BRICS group and allies of Russia were absent from the conference, as was the case with the Brazilian president, who declined to attend and instead sent his designated Ambassador in Bern. South Africa and India sent other representatives, while China refused to participate.

On the other hand, 80 countries agreed that Ukraine's territorial integrity is the basis for achieving peace. Among these delegations, mostly Western states allied with Ukraine stood out, against an opposition of nations that refused to sign the document to restore peace, which states that "the United Nations Charter will serve as the basic instrument to consolidate respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty as mechanisms to achieve a global, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine." Among the opposition were India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, the latter two being nations that have consolidated strong political and economic relationships with Moscow in recent years.

Security and Human Rights: The Agenda of the Peace Summit

As part of the conference agenda, some necessary issues were addressed to ensure greater stability in the system. Therefore, the conflict in Gaza and other concerns that have caught the attention of the international community were not left out of the discussion, among them, as a main point, the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity, followed by other interesting points such as safe maritime transit and the facilitation of commercial navigation in the Black Sea.

Among the remaining key elements of the conference was the issue of the reunification of Ukrainian children in the face of massive violations against Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, as it is estimated that around 19,546 children have been deported or forcibly displaced. In this situation, the importance of joining efforts so that the children return to Ukraine through respect for the exercise of International Law was emphasized.

At the same time, during the conference, the importance of ensuring food security was discussed in the face of the crisis being witnessed in Ukraine due to the lack of food supplies that has mainly affected the Global South, and on the other hand, the exchange of prisoners of war, one of the many duties to be ensured in terms of war.

Finally, one of the most relevant points of the agenda was the issue of security and the prohibition of nuclear weapons, which represents a latent threat to the stability of the system.

On this point, the lack of support in the final declaration, which addresses the previously mentioned points and, with greater emphasis, nuclear security, was noteworthy.

It is worth noting that there are points on which several states agree, such as the safe use of nuclear energy with an environmental focus, highlighting the importance of nuclear weapons being a threat to the status quo. The communiqué emphasized the importance of Ukraine having full control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which has been described by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a destabilizing element while it remains under Russian control.

However, while the document was signed by more than 80 countries, including most European Union states, the United States, Japan, and some Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador, the rejection of 13 countries, most of which are commercial partners of Russia and in some cases emerging economies, such as Mexico, was noteworthy. Mexico has reiterated its commitment to the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, for peace, and for respect for International Law and Security, but on this occasion, once again demonstrated having a heterogeneous foreign policy.

The Peace Summit is an initiative with great prospects that addresses the fight for maintaining peace in a context of emerging conflicts and elements that threaten to disrupt the system's stability. However, as highlighted in this article, the first step to laying the foundations of a peace project is the peaceful resolution of disputes through negotiation between the parties to the conflict. In the context of the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, as long as Russia continues to be left out of the equation, peace in the region will hardly be restored.