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56 I Eastern Europe bne July 2024
78 countries sign limited communique
at Ukraine summit in Switzerland
bne IntelliNews
Atwo-day summit in Switzerland, dedicated to forging a path to end the war in Ukraine, concluded with key powers rejecting a limited joint communique that was agreed upon
by more than 80 other countries and international organisations.
India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, all of whom have significant trading relationships with Russia as members of the BRICS economic group, attended the weekend meeting but did not agree to sign the joint statement.
On June 16, over 80 parties signed the final joint communique of the peace summit, including EU institutions as well as the 78 country signatories.
The document reaffirmed the signatories' commitment to “refraining from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, the principles of sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all states, including Ukraine, within their internationally recognised borders”.
However, the summit, held on June 15-16, narrowed its focus to three areas
from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's original 10-point peace plan deemed to have broad international appeal: nuclear safety, food security and the complete return of prisoners of war and civilians held by Russia. None of the major issues concerning actual fighting made it into the final communique.
Zelenskiy stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine's territorial
“It is important that all participants of this summit support Ukraine’s territorial integrity because there will be no lasting peace without territorial integrity”
Over 100 countries attended the Ukraine summit in Switzerland, but major emerging markets refused to sign even the watered-down version of the final communique. / European Union
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