Switzerland praises the Chinese-Brazilian peace plan for Ukraine

By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) – Switzerland’s foreign ministry has expressed support for a China-led peace plan to end the Ukraine war, saying on Saturday that its view on such efforts had changed significantly, a position Kiev viewed as disappointing and illogically described.

With Russia invading Ukraine for the third year, the two conflicting parties remain far apart on the future path to peace. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pursuing a “victory plan,” while Russian President Vladimir Putin says negotiations can only begin if Kiev gives up vast territory and abandons its NATO membership.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry responded to Switzerland’s move, releasing a statement saying Zelensky’s peace formula was “the only path to a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace.”

It said Ukraine and Switzerland were still working to gather signatories for the communique that would emerge from a global peace summit in June. “We cannot understand the logic of such a decision,” the State Department added.

Conflict mediator Switzerland, host of the June summit in Bürgenstock, took part in a meeting with 17 nations chaired by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Brazilian foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim on Friday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“We took part in this meeting as observers and we support this dynamic,” Nicolas Bideau, chief foreign ministry spokesman, told Reuters.

Bideau said Switzerland’s view of the Chinese plan, first published in May, had changed since a reference was added to the UN Charter – the founding treaty of the global body that obliges nations to maintain peace.

“For us, this represents a significant change in how we view these initiatives,” Bideau said. “A concrete diplomatic initiative from the Sino-Brazilian group could be of interest to us.”

The Bürgenstock summit, to which Russia was not invited, was seen by some foreign policy experts as a Western-led attempt to isolate Moscow and was accused of deviating from its centuries-old tradition of neutrality.

Diplomats say Bern has since held talks to find a host for a follow-up summit, with countries in the “global south” seen as prime candidates.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reiterated its adherence to the principles of “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” and that proposals must be based on the UN Charter and respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.

It called on Switzerland “and all countries that support international law and the UN Charter” not to take part in initiatives that “can only complicate the process of achieving a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace for Ukraine.”

“Initiatives that do not recognize the fact of Russia’s unprovoked armed aggression against Ukraine, equate the victim and the aggressor and propose de-escalation at the expense of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territories cannot be supported by Ukraine,” she added.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; additional reporting by Simon Lewis in New York, Yuliia Dysa in Kiev and Elaine Monaghan; Editing by Jason Neely and Bill Berkrot)