LUCERNE: World leaders gather in Switzerland on Saturday for a summit aimed at pressuring Moscow to end its war in Kyiv, but the absence of powerful allies of Russia such as China will blunt its potential impact.
Dozens of allies of Kyiv will attend the summit, but Beijing is staying away after Moscow was frozen out of proceedings on the grounds it had dismissed the gathering as a waste of time and had no interest in attending.
Without Beijing, hopes of isolating Russia have faded, while recent military reverses have put Ukraine on the back foot. The conflict in Gaza between Hamas and Israel has also diverted attention from Kyiv.
The talks are likely to focus on broader concerns triggered by the conflict, such as food and nuclear security and freedom of navigation, and a draft of the final declaration identifies Moscow as the aggressor in the conflict, Reuters reported.
Richard Gowan, U.N. Director at the International Crisis Group said that the summit risks showing the limits of Kyiv diplomacy. Richard Gowan said that it is also an opportunity for Kyiv to remind the international community that it is defending the principles of the U.N. Charter.
In a statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would end the conflict in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Russia- demands Ukraine swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender.
Russian President’s conditions apparently showed Russia’s increasing confidence that its forces have the upper hand in the conflict.
Switzerland, which took on the summit at the behest of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wants to pave the ground for a future peace process that includes Moscow. In a statement, Beijing said it would consider taking part, but ultimately refused because Moscow would not be there.
