Before the upcoming Summit on Peace in Ukraine, which will host scores of leaders on June 15-16 in Switzerland, we asked French political scientist Olivier Védrine what the downsides of this Summit are and what primary goals could be achieved.
Points of attention
- The main goal of the Ukraine Peace Summit is to end the war on Kyiv's terms.
- The West should provide Ukraine with all the weapons it needs, as well as F-16 fighter jets, to make Putin afraid.
- Putin is preparing Russia for a long war, which is why he is ignoring the Peace Summit in Switzerland.
What are the primary goals of the Ukraine Peace Summit, especially from a European perspective?
This Summit is more international than European. For the EU, the target issue will now be to start the process of Ukraine’s adhesion to the EU before the Orbán government's upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Do EU people discuss the Ukraine Peace Summit with interest?
Now in Europe, we have the results of the European elections. So, in France, we’re only talking about French politics now.
We’re not discussing this Summit in Switzerland. In Europe, because of the European Parliament elections, we are focused only on internal policy in the EU. After that, we will have the Olympic Games. That means in the media, we are now focused on EU internal political issues and the Olympic Games. That’s why Ukraine is not the first topic in our media.
Olivier Védrine
French political scientist and journalist
Was the choice of such a time for the Summit a mistake?
It was a big mistake. Why? It is just after the European elections and just before the Olympic Games.
So, this Summit would be better in September or October. Not now, between the EU elections and the Olympic Games. In September would be best because in November, you have the US elections.
What results should we expect from the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland?
I’m afraid we will not have a good result at this Summit. But this is only a first step. Anyway, I’m worried that we will not have a strong result.
What could the EU and the US do for Ukraine?
What the EU must do is to provide weapons to Ukraine, ammunition, and F-16s. Do you know why Russia will not come to this Summit in Switzerland? Because Russia is not afraid. And if you want to negotiate with Russia, you must make Russia afraid.
Russia is not afraid. Putin knows that he’s preparing Russia for a long-term war. And he’s waiting. And if we want to push Putin to negotiate, we have to make Putin afraid. To make him afraid is to really provide weapons to Ukraine.
We’ve been talking about those F-16s for more than a year now. And Ukraine is waiting. And I repeat, if we want to negotiate with Putin, we have to make him afraid.
What reasons could postpone the EU and US urgent support of Ukraine with weapons?
They’re afraid of chaos in Russia because they don't want to have a Yugoslavia scenario. Before the end of the Soviet Union, the US and the European countries were afraid of how the Soviet Union would split and of civil war in the former Soviet Union countries. The Soviet Union disappeared, and nothing happened.
What are the ways to avoid chaos in Russia?
In my opinion, if they want to avoid chaos in Russia, they have to think about the Russian opposition and help Russian democrats gain power.
Ukraine also has to help the Democratic Russian opposition because if Ukraine helps them, it will show the West that Ukraine knows that we must avoid chaos in Russia. Then this is the key point.
