Swiss conference on Ukraine calls for respecting it’s territorial integrity; India amongst key non-signatories
By IAR Desk
New Delhi: June 17, 2024: Participants at the Swiss conference, which was held on 15-16 June believe that achieving peace in Ukraine requires participation and dialogue among all parties to the conflict, Reuters reported, citing a draft statement on the summit’s results obtained by Reuters.
“We believe that achieving peace requires participation and dialogue from all parties. Therefore, we have decided to take concrete steps in the above-mentioned areas in the future to further involve representatives of all parties,” Reuters reported, citing the draft statement.
Switzerland held a conference on Ukraine near Lucerne from June 15 to 16. About 90 countries and organizations confirmed their participation in the conference. US President Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Lula did not attend the conference.
Switzerland did not invite Russia to the conference on Ukraine. The Kremlin said that it was completely illogical and hopeless to seek a solution to the Ukrainian conflict without Russia’s participation.
Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the text of the declaration for the Swiss summit on Ukraine was ready and all of Ukraine’s principled positions had been taken into account.
The list of countries that signed the final communique was displayed by the organizers on the screens at the Bürgenstock Press Center. 80 of the 92 countries present at the conference signed the document.
Eighty countries jointly called for the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine to be the basis for any peace agreement to end Russia-Ukraine war.
It 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 also stated that threats or use of nuclear weapons was “inadmissible”, as well as attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant, which was captured by Russia early in the war and sits on the frontline. It called for attacks to cease on Ukrainian civilian ports and on merchant ships, saying food security “must not be weaponised in any way”. And it called for the release of all prisoners of war and the return of unlawfully detained Ukrainian civilians, including children.
However, Armenia, Bahrain, Brazil, the Vatican, India, Indonesia, Libya, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates did not sign the document.
Ahead of the summit, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, demanded that Ukrainian troops leave four eastern Ukrainian regions that are partially occupied by Russian troops, and also called on Ukraine to abandon plans to join Nato.
– With input from agencies
