The war in Ukraine served as the starting point for the second Summit for Democracy, a project by US President Joe Biden, in which 121 countries were invited to participate virtually. Russia and China, two of the excluded countries, made no secret of their criticism of the event, which they say aims to divide the world and be a “manifestation of neo-colonial practices” by the Americans.
Since the first summit for democracy, organized in December 2021, Russia has invaded Ukraine. And since war is one of the biggest threats to democracy, the second virtual meeting started precisely with a panel dedicated to “just and lasting peace in Ukraine”, with the participants defending Kiev’s ten-point plan to achieve it.
“No other country wants more peace than Ukraine, but peace at all costs is an illusion. For peace to last, it must be fair,” the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, recalled that the end of Russian aggression and the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity are “essential conditions for peace”. Kuleba took the floor in place of President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was unable to participate as planned due to his visit to the various battle fronts – he was in Sumy yesterday.
“In this struggle we defend the entire democratic world”Kuleba said, warning that any concessions “to the aggressor” will only serve to “encourage” Russia to intensify its “attacks on democracy”, giving it time and space to rebuild its military capability and continue its offensive. It is clear that Russia must take every square inch of Ukrainian territory. There should be no misunderstandings about what the word withdrawn means.”
Kuleba insisted on the ten-point plan for peace that Zelensky had put forward in the past. This plan begins with nuclear safety and ends with the confirmation of the end of the war, and includes the release of prisoners of war and the return of children deported to Russia, the establishment of a special war crimes court, and the full withdrawal of more Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted the first day of business — the presidential debates take place this Wednesday. Blinken reiterated that while everyone wants “the guns to be silent”, simple calls for a ceasefire are not the solution. because this will only give Russia time and space to regroup and strike again. And he recalled that “the war could end tomorrow” and that it would be enough for Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine.
Reviews of Beijing and Moscow
Since the first Summit for Democracy, the world has become more autocratic. According to the latest report from the V-Dem research institute, 72% of the world’s population (5.7 billion people) lived in an autocracy last year, of which 2.2 billion (28%) lived in closed autocracies (where there are no elections). Only one billion people (13%) live in liberal democracies.
Despite this scenario, Biden invited the leaders of 121 countries to this year’s virtual summit, eight more than the inaugural — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Honduras, Liechtenstein, Mauritania, Mozambique and Tanzania. But the absences are equally important, with no room for Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Hungary (the only EU country left out) or Singapore.
The State Department declined to explain the criteria for choosing the guests. “We don’t want to define which countries are democracies or not,” said a spokesman quoted by AFP. “We intend to be inclusive and representative of a list of countries with regional and socio-economic diversity,” added.
For Moscow, this summit is all about serving Washington’s global interests, with State Department spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying she expects plenty of anti-Russian statements and “pompous hypocrisy” from the three-day meeting. We believe it is the height of hypocrisy for US officials to claim leadership in promoting democratic values. on a global scale when his reputation in this field cannot even be considered questionable, it is completely destroyed,” he said in a statement.
Russia also said it was “regrettable” that UN Secretary-General António Guterres will participate in the opening session of the meeting. along with Biden and the leaders of the other co-host nations. After criticism that the work focused too much on the US in December 2021 – at a time when Biden wanted to reprise Washington’s role in the world after four years in Donald Trump’s administration and the events surrounding the Capitol invasion – the format changed to take on four co-hosts, one from each continent: South Korea, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Zambia.
Beijing also criticized the event: “Despite many problems at home, the US is once again holding a democracy summit in the name of advancing democracy, an event that blatantly draws an ideological line between countries and creates divisions in the world. The act violates the spirit of democracy and further reveals plus the US quest for primacy behind the facade of democracy”said Chinese diplomacy spokeswoman Mao Ning.
Source: DN
