What did the Bürgenstock summit leave behind?

What did a two-day peace summit achieve while the war carried on around it? On 16 June 2024, the Global Peace Summit, dedicated to discussion of Ukraine's Peace Formula, ended at the Bürgenstock Resort in Switzerland. The gathering had opened on 15 June and was hosted by the Swiss president, Viola Amherd. Representatives from 92 nations and 8 international organisations attended, while Russia did not take part. It followed a series of four earlier international meetings.

A platform without Moscow

The Peace Formula is an initiative and diplomatic platform that Ukraine proposed to the world community to achieve a just conclusion to the war. The summit was built around it. Russia's absence shaped the debate from the start.

Two days before the summit closed, on 14 June 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he was ready for a ceasefire if Ukraine withdrew from Russian-claimed territories and abandoned its accession to NATO. Ukraine rejected the offer. The two positions, one set out in Switzerland and one set out in Moscow, stood far apart as the summit ended.

Money for energy, ahead of winter

Aid announcements surrounded the meeting. On 15 June, the United States announced a $1.5 billion package for Ukraine, focused primarily on the energy industry and humanitarian assistance. On 16 June, Norway said it would give Ukraine 1.1 billion kroner (about US$103 million) to help repair energy infrastructure and secure electricity supply before winter. Both pledges pointed to the same priority: keeping the power system running.

Sanctions and the front line

European unity was less visible on 14 June, when Germany vetoed an EU sanctions package. The measures would have stopped EU members from re-exporting Russian liquefied natural gas from EU ports and stopped EU companies from selling sanctioned products to Russia.

On the battlefield, Russia claimed on 16 June that it had captured the village of Zahirne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

A march in the capital

In Kyiv on the same day, hundreds of LGBTQ+ members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and their supporters marched in the city centre. They demanded legal reforms to give same-sex couples more partnership rights. The march went ahead despite opposition from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and from counter-protesters.

Reading the day

Taken together, 16 June 2024 showed several tracks running at once: a diplomatic effort that Russia declined to join, a competing Russian ceasefire condition that Ukraine had already refused, practical Western support aimed at the winter energy system, a disagreement among EU members over sanctions, and a continuing Russian push on the ground. In Kyiv, a civil-rights demand was voiced in public even as the country was at war.