Kateryna Vakarchuk
Ph.D. in Politics
Being in a state of war for the third year, Ukraine is forced to look for different ways to stop the bloodshed and genocide of the Ukrainian people. One of these ways is the Peace Summit in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, for which Ukraine seriously prepared and in which more than 100 participants from all over the world (93 countries and 8 world and international organizations) took part. The main goal of such an event was the agreement of the Ukraine’s Peace Formula, namely the points related to nuclear and food security, as well as the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war and Ukrainian children deported by Russia.
It was great that the summit was attended by representatives of 11 countries from Latin America and the Organization of American States — the international organization of the countries of the Western Hemisphere. As you already know, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Uruguay were represented at the highest level. Prime Ministers from Mexico, Peru and Suriname were present. But from Brazil, only the Brazilian Ambassador to Switzerland attended the summit. Colombia was also included in the list of registered participants, but its President Gustavo Petro canceled his trip at the last moment, explaining his decision by the fact that he considered the summit to be “an alignment for war”.
As for Brazil, the Swiss government personally invited Lula da Silva together with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira as early as on April 30. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi also personally invited President of Brazil to participate in the summit. As expected, Lula da Silva and the representatives of the Foreign Ministry of Brazil replied that there is no point for Brazil to participate in the summit unless both sides involved in the talks. As you know, on May 23, Brazil and China proposed in Beijing their action plan to end the Russian-Ukrainian war. “China and Brazil support an international peace conference held at a proper time that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties as well as fair discussion of all peace plans”, the document reads. As for China, it has called on other countries to join its plan to “play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation and promoting talks for peace”. Brazil, as a member of BRICS and a country of the Global South, quickly agreed to this.
As for Argentina, a few days before the summit, President Javier Milei announced that he would not be able to participate in the summit because of national holidays in his country. But it became known that Volodymyr Zelenskyi personally invited him to attend the summit in Switzerland, and he did change his work schedule. It is important that Argentina was invited to the meeting of the G7 countries in Italy before the Global Peace Summit, and later it joined the event in the Rammstein format. Such radical changes in foreign policy may indicate that Argentina is returning to the civilized world and at the same time is trying to support Ukraine.
As Javier Milei himself noted, it is a responsible step for Argentina to be at the G7 Summit and the Global Peace Summit: “This is part of the great changes we are making as a country after turning our backs on the world for decades”.
At the Global Peace Summit, Volodymyr Zelenskyi thanked Javier Milei for participating in such an event and noted the broad representation of Latin American countries at the summit. The Presidents discussed the next steps in implementing the specific points of the Peace Formula, and the Ukrainian delegation sincerely thanked Argentina for joining the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. Bilateral cooperation and further international contacts at various levels were also discussed. Volodymyr Zelenskyi awarded the Argentine President with the Order of Freedom, which is important, including from the point of view of deepening Ukrainian-Argentine relations.
A meeting with the Chilean delegation was also on the sidelines of the summit. Previously, President of Chile Gabriel Boric, having received the invitation, immediately confirmed his participation in the event. It should be noted that Chile has become a friendly country for us, which has been actively supporting Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Before the summit, the two leaders discussed the expected consequences and further steps in the implementation of the Peace Formula and the deepening of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
It is already known that the Joint Communiqué of the Global Peace Summit was initially signed by 80 countries and 4 organizations, but the communique remains open. It is a pity that Iraq, Jordan and Rwanda withdrew their signatures. Brazil and Mexico did not sign the Joint Communiqué. Everything is clear with Brazil — it is a BRICS member, but as for Mexico… Its position seems rather strange.
The Organization of American States was also among the participants of the summit, but it is not yet among the signatories of the Joint Communique. One can only hope that such a respectable organization not only declares peace, but really, not in words, respects international law.
Therefore, we have to thank the countries of Latin America for their broad participation in the Global Peace Summit and hope for their further support and effectiveness of the joint efforts of Ukrainian diplomacy in promoting the interests of Ukraine in the Latin American direction.
