What Was The Ukraine Peace Summit? Who Did Not Attend? Here's Everything You Need to Know

Last weekend, Switzerland hosted the Summit on Peace in Ukraine. The diplomatic summit lasted for two days, and it was at the Burgenstock resort, Stansstad, Switzerland, where the summit took place. The purpose of the Summit was to bring about a path to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Over 100 delegations from various international organizations and countries became a part of the summit.

Many leaders willfully attended the diplomatic event. The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, also became a part of the event. Various delegations and leaders from countries like France, Italy, Japan, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, and others attended the event. However, while a majority of the participants assented to the Ukraine peace communique that was released once the summit ended, there were a few countries that did not sign it or agree to it.

In order to understand the reasons behind some countries refusing to sign it, it is important to first understand what exactly is the Ukraine peace communique.

The Ukraine peace communique 

The term "communique" stands for an official statement or announcement. The Ukraine peace communique presented the "common vision". This vision is centered on several important aspects.

These aspects are:

1) Exchange of prisoners

All the prisoners, as per the communique, must be exchanged. The civilians in Ukraine who have been illegally displaced should be deported to Ukraine As per Ukraine, about 20,000 children have been taken by the authorities in Russia at the time of the war.

2) Free flow of Ukrainian agricultural goods

The vision encourages the free flow of Ukranian agricultural goods to the third countries interested in them. The communique underscores that the global food security relies on uninterrupted manufacturing and supply of food products. What the communique considers to be "unacceptable" are the attacks on civilian port infrastructure and merchant ships in the Azov Sea and the Black Sea.

3) Safety of Nuclear installations

The communique says that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear power Plant and other nuclear installations should be safe in accordance with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) principles and under the supervision of the IAEA. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is the largest in Europe. The huge power plant has been a significant issue of battles between Russia and Ukraine ever since the war started. This further enhances the risks of a nuclear accident, and thus, the communique has added this vision.

The signatories of the Ukraine peace communique

Over 82 delegations showed their support by signing the communique. Some of these are Austria, Chie, Cote d'Ivoire, the European Council, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Kosovo, Norway, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

The United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, the European Commission, the European Parliament, Georgia, Ghana, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Palau, Serbia, and Ukraine also signed the Ukraine peace communique.

Countries that did not sign the Ukraine peace communique and why?

While many countries signed the Ukraine peace communique, many countries did not sign it. Mexico, India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, the UAE, and Thailand attended the summit, but they did not sign the Ukraine peace communique. Some countries like Brazil attended the summit an observers but did not sign the communique. On the other hand, Pakistan did not attend the communique.

There are several reasons why these countries chose not to sign the communique. For instance, Pavan Kapoor, the Secretary (West) of the Ministry of External Affairs of India expressed that the country chose not to sign the joint communique because Russia was not a part of the summit. The Secretary explained that India is of the view that peace in Ukraine demands the bringing together of all the stakeholders.

Another explanation for not signing the Ukraine peace communique was given by Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud of Saudi Arabia. The Prince expressed that Saudi Arabia believes that it any credible process will require the participation of Russia.

While these two countries showcased somewhat similar reasons, the reason given by South Africa was different. The National Security Advisor Sydney Mufamadi expressed in a statement saying, it was surprising that at this conference, Israel is present and participating”. Earlier, the commission accused Israel of dealing in war crimes against Palestine. The National Security Advisor Sydney Mufamadi challenged the legitimacy of the communique. 

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