ArmInfo. The Swiss forum once again highlighted the priority for any country of "national egoism," said a leading researcher at the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO of the Russian Foreign Ministry, political scientist Sergey Markedonov.
Having stated the fact of holding this long-awaited international conference on overcoming the Ukrainian military-political crisis, Markedonov called for an assessment of this event without mischief.
According to him, one should also not talk about the forum at the Burgenstock Hotel (Swiss canton of Nidwalden) as an "unimportant" and "frivolous" event.
"Many arguments can be made about the "double standards" of the West and the unwillingness of the Global South to follow the dictates of Washington and Brussels. But the fact remains. The conference in Switzerland became an important symbolic and legitimizing factor for the support of Ukraine from the collective West.
Moreover, this "collective" itself has not lost its political cohesion. The final communique was also signed by such "rebel Eurosceptics" as Hungarians and Slovaks. And even the Serbs joined them, no matter what correct words about friendship and brotherhood were uttered from Belgrade. Turkey has once again put "Euro-Atlantic solidarity" above the usual foreign policy frontism," the Russian expert noted.
At the same time, the political scientist is confident that in the future the decisions of the "peace forum" will be referred to by the governments of the United States and EU countries, they will be appealed to in order to increase cooperation with Kiev and to "contain" Moscow.
"The American and European political elites are not concerned with how to let Russia save face or listen to the arguments "from the other side." The goal is the same - to increase pressure on Moscow. There are no illusions here! And while the Global South is indignant and perplexed, the "collective West" , not forgetting about the oil, sends guns to Kyiv and not only!" Markedonov noted.
The Russian expert called for special attention to be paid to the genre and format features of the Swiss forum. "If we record them more clearly, we will understand that the meeting in Burgenstock has nothing to do with any real negotiation process. I agree 100% with the opinion of academician Alexei Arbatov. "The worst thing in politics is the mixing of genres. Public events are one thing, but practical diplomacy is a very delicate and often confidential activity. I would venture to say that no peace negotiations in history would have achieved results if they had been conducted publicly at large meetings." On June 15-16, 2024, we did not see practical diplomacy; the gathered forum participants in Switzerland were engaged in manifesting and declaring a certain set of demands," - I'm sure the political scientist.
Markedonov also called the peace conference, in which one of the conflicting parties is missing, at least strange. He added that negotiations are always communication with an uncomfortable interlocutor, and not an activity in the format of "the cuckoo praises the rooster because he praises the cuckoo"
The expert touched a little on the topic of representativeness and asked the question: were there many or few participants at the forum?
"92 conference participants from 193 UN member countries. What does this mean? It probably didn't work out to make the Ukrainian issue the number one global topic. But it was quite possible to designate its high priority. The goal of consolidating the "collective West" was achieved, dissatisfaction with this opinion is shown," continued the expert.
According to Markedonov, the key problem remains that the Global South does not have the high degree of consolidation and political mobilization that the United States and China have here and now, whether we like it or not.
Next, the expert touched upon the question of who signed the final communique and who did not. "Who (didn't) leave their autographs under the final communique? The Swiss forum once again highlighted the priority for any country of "national egoism." Whatever the Serbs and Turks say about the importance of relations with Russia, their signatures stand together with the autographs of the Czechs, Poles and At the same time, such strategic partners of the States as the Saudis, the UAE, Bahrain, Thailand, Mexico or Brazil refrained from signing a document that has a clear anti-Russian orientation. And the Holy See cannot be considered Moscow's strategic partners. However, its "visa" is not. "Georgia comes from the West, but signed up; Armenia strives to go to the West, but refrained from putting its signature," Markedonov concluded.