Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York and briefed him on the outcomes of the recent Ukraine’s Global Peace Summit, while Russia holds the presidency of the UN Security Council, according to Cassis’ X.
Ukraine’s Global Peace Summit, held on 15-16 June in Switzerland, had 92 countries present, however Russia was not invited.
However, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s account of the meeting omitted any mention of the summit discussions.
Instead, Russia emphasized Lavrov’s presentation of what they termed “fundamental assessments” of the situation in Ukraine since “the coup d’etat” in 2014.
The Russian minister also reportedly stressed the futility of Western attempts to issue ultimatums to Russia.
The talks touched on Switzerland’s decision to join anti-Russian sanctions, a move that Moscow views as inconsistent with Swiss neutrality.
“Such actions of official Bern cannot but be recorded and taken into account when building the Russian line in the Swiss direction,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote.
In a separate meeting, Lavrov conferred with Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. Both sides reportedly expressed satisfaction with the level of Russian-Hungarian political dialogue. The ministers also discussed recent agreements between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after their meeting in Moscow on 5 July.
They also talked about Russia’s war against Ukraine and criticized Ukraine’s alleged “gross violation” of the rights of national minorities.
Ukraine’s Global Peace Summit
The Global Peace Summit, which Russia was not invited to attend, saw participation from about 100 delegations. The event resulted in a joint communiqué on peace foundations, signed by 80 countries out of 92 initially, with some nations joining later and others withdrawing their signatures. However, the summit lacked support from key Global South nations.
Armenia, Bahrain, Colombia, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Libya, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates did not sign the document. Brazil also did not sign, but it was an observer at the event.
Key points in the communiqué included condemnation of Russia’s war against Ukraine, calls for nuclear and food safety, and prisoner releases “all for all.”
Bloomberg reported that Ukraine aims to organize the next peace summit with Russian participation before the November 2024 US presidential elections, aiming for a fair peace settlement.
Related:
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- Russia plans to undermine next Global Peace Summit, says Zelenskyy’s chief aide
- British PM: Russia tried to disrupt peace summit because it feels threatened by discussion of principles of international law
- Swiss peace summit abruptly revises communiqué to acknowledge Russian aggression
