In a Jan. 16 statement posted to Russia’s Foreign Ministry website, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the Jan. 14 meeting in Davos of the Copenhagen-format meeting on Ukraine as “a complete failure for Kiev and its Western masters.” Hosted by Ukraine and Switzerland to discuss Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “peace formula,” the meeting did include 82 representatives of nations and organizations—up from 66 at the Oct. 28, 2023 meeting. But the increased attendance was meaningless. They all posed for a “family photo” and agreed “tentatively” to meet again, and that was it.
The group was clearly divided, and many representatives from the nations of the Global South stated openly that any discussion of an eventual settlement of the Ukraine crisis without Russia makes no sense. China did not attend, and other countries of the Global South downgraded their delegations to lower level officials or attended only as observers. Zakharova pointed out that even with increased attendance, Ukraine and the West have failed to recruit any new members to their anti-Russian camp and couldn’t even produce a unified final document. The statement released by the group’s two chairs, Ukraine and Switzerland, contained a note saying that the document “does not reflect the opinions of all attendees.”
It is clear to many that Zelenskyy’s many ultimatums cannot bring about a comprehensive or lasting peace, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman observed. “The framework is based on delusional demands,” she added, such as withdrawing Russian troops to the 1991 borders, making Russia pay reparations and holding it accountable. Kiev also hasn’t hidden the fact that the withdrawal of Russian troops would allow it to “launch a genocide against Russians who support reunification with Russa. Supporting these demands means endorsing ethnic cleansing which is a crime.”
Among other things, Zakharova said, meetings of this kind make it impossible “to take up useful and reasonable initiatives put forth by the Global South, which aim to address the root causes of the crisis, namely, the West and its Kiev underlings demonstrating disregard for Russia’s legitimate security interests and ignoring them.”
