Peace Summit: how Biden and China’s absence will affect events
31 May 2024 15:40
ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ
Today, the media reported that China will not participate in the Global Peace Summit initiated by Ukraine, which will take place in Switzerland in June. The United States will attend the summit, but it is not known whether President Joe Biden will attend. [ Kommersant asked political analyst Igor Reiterovich how the absence of Biden and China will affect the event.
According to Reiterovich, Biden’s presence at the summit would definitely have a certain significance, but his absence is not a determining factor in the effectiveness of the US participation.
“Biden is great, but it is not a determining factor in the quality or effectiveness of American participation,”
– said the political scientist.
He added that Biden’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the eve of the summit and the possible signing of an agreement on security commitments also play an important role.
“Especially if Biden meets with Zelensky on the eve of the summit. And this is planned. And if he signs some kind of agreement on security commitments there, then, in principle, his personal presence will not play the role that it could play in other circumstances,”
– Reiterowicz emphasised.
According to him, the main thing is that the summit should be attended by a representative US delegation that would support and vote for all the decisions that will be made at this summit and support Ukraine as much as possible in the future.
The situation with China is more complicated.
“Because we had certain hopes that they would be there. Although, I think that a small percentage of the Chinese delegation remains. So far, there have been no official statements that they will not attend. Perhaps at the last moment they will send some delegation as observers,”
– the expert noted.
If China does not participate, Reiterovich believes that the main focus should be on India and other countries of the global South.
“But if they don’t, then the main bet will have to be on India and other countries of the global South. They can seize the initiative and thus encourage China to respond more actively to these things in the future and participate in such forums and summits, which are clearly not the last and will be held repeatedly in the future,” he concluded,
– Reuters concluded.
It should be noted that more than 80 countries have already confirmed their participation in the Global Peace Summit initiated by Ukraine, which will take place in Switzerland in June.
In January, Ukraine invited President Xi Jinping to the upcoming summit of world leaders in Switzerland. President Zelenskyy also called on Joe Biden to attend, but Washington has not yet confirmed who it will send.
Global peace summit
The Peace Summit, to be held on 15-16 June in Switzerland, is designed to accelerate the coming of a just peace for Ukraine. Ukraine hopes that 80-100 countries will take part in the event. According to the Swiss Foreign Ministry, more than 160 delegations have been invited to the peace summit.
Among the invitees are members of the G7, G20, BRICS, numerous other countries from all continents, as well as the EU, three international organisations (UN, OSCE and Council of Europe) and two religious representatives (Vatican and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople).
Switzerland emphasises that the summit will build on the discussions that have taken place in recent months, including the Ukrainian peace formula and other peace proposals based on the UN Charter and key principles of international law. The main goal of the summit is to inspire the future peace process. To achieve this, the Summit intends to
- provide a platform for dialogue on how to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine based on international law and the UN Charter;
- promote a common understanding of a possible framework for achieving this goal;
- jointly identify a roadmap on how to engage both sides in the future peace process.
