Can Ukraine peace summit achieve anything without Russia’s participation?

Representatives from 90 countries, including Canada, are expected to gather in Switzerland this weekend for a Swiss-hosted Ukraine peace summit — without Russia’s involvement — that organizers hope will “inspire” a path toward peace.

Moscow has said it won’t participate in any negotiations based on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace proposals, which Russia rejects. And some of Russia’s key allies, namely China, have said they won’t take part in talks that don’t include Russia.

That — along with U.S. President Joe Biden skipping the event — has many questioning what the summit can hope to achieve, particularly as the fighting rages on nearly 28 months after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

But Ukrainian and Swiss officials insist the event won’t be held in vain.

“This is basically an exercise of getting consensus from the rest of the world in order to show a united front and force Russia to the table,” Oleh Nikolenko, Ukraine’s consul general in Toronto, said in an interview.

Swiss officials say the conference aims to set a course toward “lasting peace” in Ukraine, to reach a “common understanding” toward getting there, and draw up the “roadmap” on how to get both sides involved in talks. Nuclear security, humanitarian aid and food security are also on the summit’s agenda.

“This is not about propaganda,” Swiss President Viola Amherd told reporters in the Swiss capital of Bern on Monday. “This is about the basis of humanitarian aid provided by Switzerland, based on fostering peace (and) to provide a platform to initiate a dialogue.”

Ukraine sent invitations to 160 countries to the summit, and Amherd said it was not a “disappointment” that fewer than 100 have announced their involvement so far. A final list of