Last weekend, the Bürgenstock Resort in the Swiss city of Obbürgen was a hive of diplomatic activity. The United States, Britain, France, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and dozens of other countries sent representatives to a conference that was designed to reinforce support for Ukraine as it resists Russian aggression and explore ideas that could bring the war to a close on Kyiv’s terms. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spent months traveling the world to enlist as many participants as possible, going so far as to call out China in public for lobbying countries against participating.
For Ukraine’s purposes, the two-day conference was a hit. Delegation after delegation denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading a sovereign neighbor. European Council President Charles Michel spoke some Ukrainian to show solidarity. United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak blasted Russia for escalating nuclear rhetoric. And Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized that the best way to protect the rules-based international order was to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
It all sounded pretty good from Zelenskyy’s perspective. But other than nice words and a relatively short joint communique that reiterated the importance of the United Nations Charter and outlined three uncontroversial items — nuclear installations in Ukraine should be secured, the Black and Azov seas should be open for trade, and prisoners of war should be exchanged and unlawfully deported Ukrainian children be returned to Ukraine — it’s hard to see what the conference achieved. In fact, we could question whether it was worth the effort at all.
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