Why Can’t the West Force Russia to Make Peace in Ukraine?

Sean Monaghan

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Last week President Zelensky of Ukraine traveled to Bürgenstock, Switzerland, where he was joined by representatives from over 100 nations and institutions for the first “Summit on Peace in Ukraine.” The summit began “a wide-ranging dialogue on peace in Ukraine” and facilitated agreement upon a peace plan, a “living document” that has so far been signed by over 80 nations—the widest international endorsement yet of principles to end the war.

But the summit failed to make headway toward a just peace on the ground. This was mainly because the group was negotiating with itself. Russia, the main protagonist and aggressor, was not present. According to the Swiss summit hosts, “Russia indicated many times that it had no interest in participating.” Yet Russia’s president Vladimir Putin was keenly aware of the summit, using the occasion to restate Russia’s demands for Ukraine to give up chunks of territory, parts of which are now under tenuous Russian control. Hence Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, referred to Putin’s plan as suggesting that Ukraine “must withdraw from Ukraine.”

President Zelensky knew the talks would not produce results on their own. Leading up to the summit, he called for “tangible coercion of Russia to peace by all means,” urging his allies in the West to “force Russia to make peace” (as one headline put it).