No unanimity

Ukraine summit: Chancellor sees no unanimity

81 of the 92 participating states (see picture), including Austria, Germany and the USA, supported the final declarations.

(Bild: AFP/Dimitar Dilkoff)

The Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland comes to an end without a unanimous declaration. Nevertheless, 83 of the 94 participating countries and organizations, including Austria, Germany and the USA, supported the final declarations on Sunday afternoon.

The EU Commission, the EU Parliament, the EU Council and the Council of Europe also joined in. According to a list published at the summit (pictured above), Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, the Vatican, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates are not included.

No agreement on the inclusion of Moscow
The participating heads of state and government were unable to agree on a clear approach to involving Russia in a peace process. There was no agreement on the question of how and when exactly Russia should be involved in the future, said Swiss President Viola Amherd at the end of the conference.

(Bild: AFP/Pool/Urs Flüeler)

Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) had already expressed his skepticism at midday on the sidelines of the summit and said that he did not expect unanimity in the final declaration. The main reason for this was the choice of words. Some countries would be reluctant to call Russia an "aggressor". However, this was "not dramatic", as there was a common "basic attitude", said the Chancellor.

Nuclear weapons, grain exports, prisoner exchange
Important topics at the meeting included the protection of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the renunciation of the use of nuclear weapons, grain exports and prisoner exchanges. According to Nehammer, it was "clearly communicated" that there would be no peace without Russia. 

The wish was to organize a follow-up conference with concrete negotiations, Nehammer said. However, he could not yet estimate the details. It is unclear when a follow-up conference with Russia, which was not present in Switzerland, could take place.

Ukraine: Declaration "complete and balanced"
The final declaration is "complete and balanced", said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. The positions of his government had been taken into account and no alternative peace plans had been discussed. Ukraine would not allow Russia to speak in the language of ultimatums.

Putin named his conditions before the summit
Just how far away a peace solution is was made clear by statements from Russia immediately before the summit. President Vladimir Putin named his conditions for negotiations, including Ukraine's complete renunciation of the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea - just over a fifth of Ukraine's territory.

According to Russia, Putin is not ruling out talks with Ukraine. However, guarantees are needed to ensure the credibility of any negotiations, Russian media quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Sunday.