Only three CPLP countries are represented at the highest level in Switzerland.

Only three states from the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) are represented at the level of heads of state and government at the Ukraine Peace Conference, which begins today in Switzerland, namely Portugal, Cape Verde and Timor-Leste.

According to the final list of participants, “closed” and published by Swiss authorities just hours before the start of the summit, which will take place today and Sunday in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock, on the outskirts of Lucerne, the nearly 100 representatives from countries and organizations that accepted the invitation do not include one a representative from Angola, Guinea-Bissau or Mozambique, while Sao Tome and Principe is represented at ministerial level by head of diplomacy Gareth Guadalupe.

In a summit marked by several important absences, with a natural focus on Russia as well as China, Brazil is not actively participating – despite the fact that President Lula da Silva is even in Switzerland this week for an International Labor Organization conference – having decided to send only one observer, the Brazilian Ambassador to Switzerland Claudia Fonseca Buzzi.

Among the CPLP countries, Equatorial Guinea is also not represented at the Burgenstock summit.

Portugal is represented at the highest level by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, while Cape Verde and Timor-Leste are represented by the Prime Ministers, Ulisses Correia and Silva. and Xanana Gusmão respectively.

On the occasion of the recent trip of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to Portugal on May 28, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said that the national diplomatic network and the President of the Republic himself had made every effort to mobilize third countries. especially the CPLP member states to attend the summit in Switzerland.

The peace conference in Ukraine, organized by Switzerland at the request of Zelensky, brings together representatives of almost a hundred countries and organizations, half of them from Europe, but there are several absentees (invitations were sent to 160 delegations from around the world). world).

The big absentee is Russia, which on Friday called on UN member states not to participate in a conference it deemed “provocative and completely useless” and also accused Switzerland of losing neutrality by joining European sanctions against Moscow after the start of the military offensive. in Ukraine in February 2022.

Also notable was the absence of China, one of Moscow’s great allies and seen as a fundamental mediator for future peace talks, which refused to participate due to Russia’s absence, with Zelensky accusing Beijing of working with the Kremlin (the Russian president) to sabotage the conference. putting pressure on countries not to participate.

Moreover, among the members of the group of emerging economies (BRIC), which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and which are considered close to Moscow, in addition to the absence of Moscow and Beijing, Brazil and South Africa, Africa decided to send only observer emissaries, and India sent senior External Affairs Ministry official Pawan Kapoor, who until recently was ambassador to Russia.

Participants include US Vice President Kamala Harris, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, among others.

The purpose of the conference is to “stimulate a future peace process” based on “the debates that have taken place in recent months, namely the Ukrainian peace plan and other peace proposals based on the Charter of the United Nations and fundamental principles of international law.” .