World leaders will meet in Switzerland on Saturday for a summit aimed at pressuring Russia to end its war in Ukraine, but the absence of strong allies for Moscow such as China would weaken its potential influence.
Dozens of Ukraine's allies are participating in the summit, but China decided not to participate and rejected the summit, describing it as a waste of time and that it is not interested in attending.
Without China, hopes of isolating Moscow have faded, while recent military defeats have put Kiev on the defensive. The war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) also diverted attention from Ukraine.
The talks are expected to focus on broader concerns raised by the war, such as food and nuclear security and freedom of navigation, and the draft final declaration classifies Russia as the aggressor in the conflict, the sources said.
“The summit risks showing the limits of Ukrainian diplomacy,” said Richard Gowan, UN director at the International Crisis Group. “However, it is also an opportunity for Ukraine to remind the world that it stands for the principles of the UN Charter.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that his country would not end the war in Ukraine unless Kiev abandoned its ambitions to join NATO and gave up 4 regions claimed by Moscow, two demands that Kiev quickly rejected and considered surrender. Putin's conditions seem to express Moscow's growing confidence that its forces have the upper hand in the war.
Moscow views what it calls its own military operation in Ukraine as part of a broader conflict with the West, which it says wants to subjugate Russia. Kiev and the West reject this and accuse Russia of waging an illegal war.
Switzerland, which took over hosting the summit at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, wants to pave the way for a future peace process that includes Russia. But geopolitical divisions over the deadliest European conflict since World War II are clouding the summit. Zelensky accused Beijing of helping Moscow undermine the summit, an accusation denied by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
China had said that it would consider participating, but ultimately refused due to the lack of an invitation to Russia.
About 90 countries and organizations are scheduled to participate in the two-day summit in the Bürgenstock resort, located on a mountain peak in central Switzerland.
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