The major Ukraine declaration made at Switzerland peace summit as Vladimir Putin not invited

A Ukraine peace summit has reconfirmed the nation’s “territorial integrity” as delegates voted to adopt a final document blaming Russia for “large-scale human suffering and destruction” as a result of its invasion of the country.

Dozens of countries have added their signatures to the joint communiqué for peace published after a two-day summit in Switzerland attended by around 100 countries. However, some countries, including India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia, did not add their signatures to the document.

The communiqué stated: “The ongoing war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine continues to cause large-scale human suffering and destruction, and to create risks and crises with global repercussions for the world.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy walks to attend a plenary session, during the summit on peace in Ukraine, in Obbürgen, Switzerland. Picture: Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP

"We reaffirm our commitment to refraining from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, the principles of sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all states, including Ukraine, within their internationally recognised borders, including territorial waters, and the resolution of disputes through peaceful means as principles of international law.”

Earlier the summit, to which Russian president Vladimir Putin was not invited, heard Russia’s invasion of Ukraine branded “an attempt to drag us all back to a darker past”.

The document also called for Ukrainian control to be restored over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and Ukraine's ports on the Azov Sea, which are all occupied by Russia. Other highly contentious issues, such as the restoration of land under Russian occupation, were not included.

Around 100 delegations, including European bodies and the United Nations, gathered this weekend at the Burgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne in an attempt to find a path to peace for Ukraine.

A woman sits on a bench indicates a sign representing Ukraine on the bank of Lake Lucerne in Lucerne as world leaders from countries meet to try to work out a way towards a peace process for Ukraine.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed Russia had launched a diplomatic campaign urging its allies to stay away. China did not attend the meeting, but not all attendees are allies of Ukraine. They include Kenya, which has argued against sanctions imposed on Russia by the international community, and Saudi Arabia, whose foreign minister has warned Ukraine will have to make difficult compromises, but which made a last-minute decision to attend after a surprise visit to the country last week by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

European Union president Charles Michel said any future dialogue with Russia “must be based on international law and the UN Charter”.

"It is up to Ukraine to decide when this may be possible,” he said. “This war is a direct attack on the global rules-based order.”

He added: “This full-scale war is more than an attack on the security of Europe, on the idea of Europe. This is an attempt to drag us all back to a darker past, a world of nuclear confrontation and major food insecurity, with all the ensuing economic consequences.”

Mr Putin, who has dismissed the summit as pointless, said last week he would agree to a ceasefire if Ukraine withdrew troops from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – regions which Russia partially occupies and claims to have annexed. He also insisted Ukraine would need to renege on its attempts to join Nato – something Russia has always strongly condemned.

Mr Zelensky has compared Mr Putin’s demands to those of Adolf Hitler during the Second World War.