An international peace conference on Ukraine organised by the Swiss on June 15-16 will be a masterclass in understanding the art and craft of the impossible. There will be no grandstanding nor will there be a final declaration. But there will be no disappointment either because the process between now and June will be a shock absorber that, at the very least, will succeed in placing all thorny issues on the table.
In this article, I write about why I believe Swiss diplomats are well-placed to shepherd this difficult international dossier. Before I do that, let me tell you what happened last weekend to drive home the point that the tiny Alpine nation has a long history of working in conflict zones because it enjoys the trust of warring parties.
On the night of Saturday and Sunday, April 13-14, when Iran bombed Israel, Swiss diplomats were in constant touch with the crisis room at the White House in Washington. They transmitted a message they had received from Tehran telling them about the attacks, the nature of which would be “destructive.” Was it just a message or is there more, considering that this is the first time Iran attacked Israel directly? France, the UK and the US were on the ground defending Israel. The dossier is very “live” here as all wait for Israel’s actions.
Switzerland represents the US in Iran since the 1979 hostage crisis. It has a task force on the Middle East and backs a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine question. Swiss diplomacy does not take a stand on terrorist organisations but departing from practice, it recently called Hamas a “terrorist organisation”. Berne made it clear that Hamas is not Palestinians — and vice versa. It has offered its good offices to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to speak to all parties in the Middle East to find lasting peace in the region.
Now, I turn to the Ukraine peace conference. Swiss President Viola Amherd and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told journalists they are aware of the unknowns leading up to June but “in view of the long-standing diplomatic tradition and encouraging feedback during the exploratory phase, it considers it its responsibility to contribute to the peace process in Ukraine.”
The Swiss Foreign Office says that there is now sufficient support for the international conference. In addition to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine in accordance with international law and the UN Charter, the meet aims to create a common understanding of a framework favourable to this objective and a concrete roadmap for the peace process.
American President Joe Biden is expected to bring with him the heft of Western democracy. China is currently sitting on the fence, but a wait-and-watch position is their signature when it comes to their ally Russia. Russia has said it will not come to the meet in June but continues to engage with the Swiss, including recently when Cassis met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in New York. Diplomats from both countries are in constant parleys. A diplomat from a Western P5 nation told me the first day of the meet might be used to call on Russia to attend or engage formally.
It doesn’t help that Switzerland has frozen the assets of Russian oligarchs in Swiss banks as a punishment for invading Ukraine. These are estimated to be $8.81 billion and media reports say four Swiss bankers are hiding Vladimir Putin’s monies in Swiss banks. Switzerland is also planning a Ukraine Mine Action Conference in October to de-mine the country and has pledged CHF 100,000 over four years, in addition to expertise and other aid. Swiss media reports regularly on Putin’s family living in the country.
At the time of writing this piece, comes the news that Russia wants to penalise Switzerland for its stance in the Ukraine war by relocating the South Caucasus talks from Geneva to another country. This only underscores the fact that Moscow takes Swiss action on Ukraine seriously and has its eyes peeled on every move in the run-up to June.
Ever since Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for Switzerland’s support in organising the conference in Davos last January, Berne has been in direct contact with numerous states. Switzerland has held talks with the G7 members, EU representatives as well as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia are also in the loop. Over 100 countries have agreed to attend the meeting.
Foreign minister Cassis had travelled to India in March to meet his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar to discuss the peace conference. At that time, it was believed India could use its good offices with Russia to persuade President Putin to attend. The Indian ambassador’s office told me they have informed New Delhi about the June meet and they are waiting to hear back.
No roles for countries have been assigned as yet and it will be interesting to see if the conference falls into the usual North-South divide or ploughs new terrain.
Why is it that the good offices of the Swiss are sought by several states? Discretion, even devotion to the cause, and a strong work ethic make Swiss diplomacy stand out. Some of the world’s most thorny diplomatic issues have been handled by Switzerland. In 2021, Geneva played host to a Biden-Putin summit – a first face-to-face between the two since Biden took office. Arms control was high on the agenda. There was no breakthrough but there was much bonhomie when the two met.
The Cold War thawed when US President Ronald Reagan and Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev met in Geneva in 1985. Several Middle East talks have been held in the city, as have the Bosnian Peace negotiations that culminated in the General Framework for Peace in Bosnia, the Dayton Agreement, in 1995. These are examples of governments using Swiss back channels. The late Archbishop of South Africa was often in Geneva before the fall of the racist regime and ushering in of democracy by Nelson Mandela. I have reported on all of them.
One of the modern world’s oldest democracies, the Swiss value the importance of rule-based progress. A fully literate population means people receive a lot of reading material at home to get a grip on issues, and their lawmakers. On a single ballot, votes are sought for issues as diverse as a village cycle stand and a decision to elect a politician at the federal level. Local, cantonal and federal politics are given equal weightage. Broad consultation slows down progress but it a cornerstone for confidence building.
Ask yourself how a country of some nine million people produces 10 of the world’s best-known brands from watches to chocolates to machine tools to banking and insurance. The magic wand here is called respect for work and a shared capacity to pull in the right direction as democratically agreed.
The June meeting is aimed at getting as many countries around the table as possible to discuss Russia’s frontal attack on Ukraine. The meet also hopes to look at some basic tenets of human rights values in a tumultuous world that challenges what is “human” and what is a “right”. The Russian attack on Ukraine has shown the continent’s vulnerability — a first since the guns fell silent following World War II in 1945. The frontal aggression by Russia has not only challenged Europeans on their turf but also questioned some of the critical bearings of human rights laws. The Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols (1950), that form the core of humanitarian law, are wartime discussions and laws.
There won’t be a final document at the end of the June meeting. It will most likely be a salute to gradualism and back-channel diplomacy. Some of the biggest successes in democracy often have humble beginnings.
Subramaniam is an award winning journalist and author
