What’s in Today’s Article?

• Background (Context, History of Swiss Mediation)
• About the Summit (Goals of the Summit, Russia’s Reaction, India’s Participation)

Background:

• With the Russia-Ukraine war in its third year, Switzerland will host a peace conference on June 15-16, immediately after the G7 Summit in Italy.
• Switzerland has taken this initiative at the request of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who visited Bern (Switzerland’s capital) earlier in January this year.

History of Swiss Mediation:

• Neutrality is a foundational principle of Switzerland’s foreign policy.
• It has had a tradition of being the protecting power since the 19^th century when it looked after the interests of both the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Grand Duchy of Baden during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.
• It acted as the protecting power during the two World Wars, and held nearly 200 protective power mandates during World War II.
• Switzerland represented India’s interests in Pakistan and Pakistan’s in India between 1971 and 1976.
• Over the last two decades, Switzerland has been the protecting power between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the US and Iran, Russia and Georgian, and other pairs of mutually hostile governments.
• The country also has a history of hosting negotiations or mediating in conflicts. It hosted talks between the government in Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2006.
• During the Russia-Ukraine war, however, Switzerland has leaned towards Ukraine, and has joined the Western sanctions regime against Russia.

What are the Goals of the Summit?

• During President Zelenskyy’s visit to Bern in January 2024, Switzerland and Ukraine discussed the next steps towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
• At Ukraine’s request, Switzerland agreed to host a high-level conference.
• The conference will aim to “create a common understanding of the framework conductive to this goal and a concrete roadmap for the peace process”.
• Switzerland has invited 120 countries, including India, to participate in the conference.

Russia’s Response to the Summit:

• Surprisingly, Russia has not been invited by Switzerland for the Ukraine-Russia Peace Summit.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there will be no peace in Ukraine until Russia’s goals are met.
• He declared that Russia was not invited, and also stated that nothing could be decided without Moscow.
• He suggested that because there would be no Russian delegation at the conference, it could be claimed that Russia is refusing to negotiate.

India’s Participation in the Summit:

• Once the election results are declared, the Prime Minister will be ready to travel, after the formation of the government.
  • This would be the Indian Prime Minister’s first trip overseas after elections.
• Also, there are expectations that Italy will invite the PM for the G7 leaders’ summit as a guest — as has been the practice in the last five years since France invited New Delhi in 2019 and Japan in 2023.
• After the G7 leaders’ summit, the stop at the peace conference will be a “natural event” to go to for the Prime Minister.
• Zelenskyy had sought India’s support on his 10-point “peace formula”, which calls for withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, release of prisoners, restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and guarantees on nuclear safety, food and energy security.
• India has sought to maintain a diplomatic balancing act between Russia and Ukraine, and it will have to calibrate its response over attendance at the peace conference.