World leaders convene in Switzerland for historic Ukraine peace summit

Peace conference for Ukraine is taking place in Burgenstock, Switzerland. (Photo/AFP)

World leaders have headed to Switzerland for a first summit on peace in Ukraine, after Vladimir Putin demanded Kiev effectively surrender if it ultimately wants negotiations with Moscow.

The two-day gathering starting on Saturday at the luxury Burgenstock resort brings together Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and more than 50 other heads of state and government, but without Russia taking part.

Switzerland says the aim is to lay the early groundwork for a path to peace eventually involving Moscow, but Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday branded the summit a "trick to distract everyone".

He said Moscow would cease fire and begin peace talks "immediately" if Kiev pulled its troops out of the east and south and gave up its NATO membership bid.

Zelenskyy slammed Putin's demands as a territorial "ultimatum" reminiscent of Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler, while NATO and the United States also immediately rejected the hardline conditions.

After almost a year of stalemate, Ukraine was forced to abandon dozens of frontline settlements this spring, with Russian troops holding a significant advantage in manpower and resources.

However, since mid-May Russian progress has slowed and Zelenskyy hopes to swing the momentum further with the back-to-back G7 and peace summits.

G7's $50B and security deal with US

The G7 summit in Italy, which Zelenskyy attended, offered on Thursday a new $50 billion loan for Ukraine, using profits from the interest on frozen Russian assets.

Leaders of the Group of Seven rich democracies said they would support Ukraine "for as long as it takes".

Zelenskyy said the new loan would go towards "both defence an d reconstruction", while Putin branded the move as "theft", warning it would "not go unpunished".

Meanwhile, a landmark 10-year security deal signed by Zelenskyy and US President Joe Biden on Thursday will see the United States provide Ukraine with military aid and training, with Zelenskyy calling it a bridge to joining the NATO defence alliance.

Biden will not go from Italy to Switzerland, sending instead his Vice President Kamala Harris, while the other G7 leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy are due to attend.

The EU chiefs and the presidents of Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Finland and Poland are among the others heading to Switzerland.

The Summit on Peace in Ukraine aims to see the 92 attending countries agree a final declaration on some tentative basic principles.

Russia's BRICS allies Brazil and South Africa are only sending an envoy, and India will be represented at the ministerial level, while China will not take part at all without Moscow's presence.

Finding common ground

The summit is being held at the ultra-exclusive Burgenstock hotel complex perched high above Lake Lucerne in classic picture-postcard Swiss scenery.

The gathering will focus on narrow themes, based on common ground between Zelenskyy's 10-point peace plan presented in late 2022, and UN resolutions on the war that passed with widespread support.

The summit aims to find paths towards a lasting peace for Ukraine, based on international law and the United Nations Charter; a possible framework to achieve this goal; and a roadmap as to how both parties could come together in a future peace process.

Experts have warned against too-high expectations from the gathering.

"Meaningful negotiations that could truly end the devastating war in Ukraine remain out of reach, as both Kiev and Moscow stick to theories of victory that amount to outlasting the other," the International Crisis Group think tank said.

"Kiev and its backers will be hard pressed to get tangible results from the meeting... beyond reaffirmations of the UN Charter's principles of territorial integrity."

Nuclear, food, humanitarian focus

A plenary session involving all delegations will be held on Saturday.

On Sunday, three topics will be discussed in detail in working groups: nuclear safety, freedom of navigation and food security, and humanitarian aspects. These will look at Black Sea shipping, prisoners of war, civilian detainees and deported children.

A second summit is envisaged, and Zelenskyy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Tuesday that Kiev hoped Russia would attend and receive a "joint plan" presented by the other attendees.

The Burgenstock mountain is surrounded by the lake on three sides and the hotel complex is on a ridge some 450 metres above the water, making it relatively easy to seal off from traditional physical threats.

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Source: TRT