Final guest list published for Swiss summit on peace in Ukraine

Final preparations ahead of the Summit on Peace in Ukraine Keystone / Eda / Pool / Urs Flueeler

A total of 92 countries, including almost 60 heads of state and government, will be taking part in the Summit on Peace in Ukraine at the Bürgenstock resort in central Switzerland this weekend.

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has now been confirmed. Saudi Arabia will be sending its head of diplomacy.

The list published on Friday by the foreign ministry includes almost 50 Western countries. In all, 56 heads of state and government, plus US Vice-President Kamala Harris, will be welcomed by Defence Minister Viola Amherd, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.

+ Swiss summit kick-starts Ukraine peace process

As recently as Thursday, sources close to the matter were saying that the British delegation would be led by Foreign Secretary David Cameron. Now, Sunak, who is facing difficulties just a few weeks before elections in his country, has been announced.

The attitude of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), close to Moscow, was the most eagerly awaited. Brazil will be an observer, as expected, as will the Holy See. India has decided to send a senior official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pavan Kapoor, until recently ambassador to Russia.

Saudi Arabia will be sending its Foreign Minister Faisal bin Fahrad al-Saud. South Africa prefers to send an emissary, while China is unsurprisingly absent, as it had hinted.

+ Why China is staying away from the peace summit

The participation of the BRICS will be similar to that seen in January at the time of the last major preparatory meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos, which was then held at the level of national security advisers.

Meloni, Macron and Scholz

For the rest, the list is fairly consistent with the names that had been circulated or revealed. Like Sunak, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will come directly from the G7 to the hotel overlooking Lake Lucerne on Saturday and Sunday.

The so-called Global South countries include several African presidents, such as Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, William Ruto of Kenya and Sheikh Hassan Mohammud of Somalia. On the South American side, their Argentinean counterparts Javier Milei, Colombian Gustavo Petro, Chilean Gabriel Boric and Ecuadorian Daniel Noboa will be making the trip.

Not all EU members will be represented at head of state and government level. Close to Russia, Hungary and Slovakia will only be sending their heads of diplomacy. As will Romania. However, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, will be there.

Keystone Pool / Michael Buholzer

Zelensky has already arrived

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Switzerland on Friday evening. He landed at Zurich airport shortly after 5pm, according to the Swiss News Agency Keystone-ATS.

He was welcomed by the Swiss ambassador to Ukraine, Felix Baumann, and the Ukrainian ambassador to Switzerland, Iryna Venediktova. The Ukrainian president then continued his journey by helicopter to the Bürgenstock.

As expected, the UN will also be present as an observer. The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs is expected to attend.

Adapted from French by DeepL/ts

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