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

The final, 'closed' list of participants was released by the Swiss authorities, just hours before the start of the summit taking place today and Sunday in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock, on the outskirts of Lucerne.

According to the list, among the nearly 100 representatives from countries and organizations that accepted the invitation, there are no representatives from Angola, Guinea-Bissau, or Mozambique, while São Tomé and Príncipe is represented at the ministerial level by its head of diplomacy, Gareth Guadalupe.

At a summit marked by several notable absences, with Russia and China naturally standing out, Brazil did not actively participate, despite the fact that President Lula da Silva was in Switzerland this week for a conference of the International Labour Organization, having decided to send only one observer, the Brazilian ambassador to Switzerland, Cláudia 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 East Timor are represented by Prime Ministers Ulisses Correia e Silva and Xanana Gusmão, respectively.

During the recent visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Portugal on May 28, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro revealed that the national diplomatic network and the President of the Republic himself had made every effort to mobilize third countries, especially CPLP member states, to participate in the summit in Switzerland.

The peace conference in Ukraine, organized by Switzerland at Zelensky's request, brings together representatives from nearly a hundred countries and organizations, half of which are from Europe, but there are several absences (invitations had been sent to 160 delegations from around the world).

The notable absentee is Russia, which on Friday urged United Nations member states not to participate in the conference, which it considered "provocative and absolutely useless," and also accused Switzerland of losing its neutrality by aligning itself with European sanctions against Moscow.

Also notable is the absence of China, one of Moscow's greatest allies and seen as a key intermediary for future peace talks. China declined to participate due to Russia's absence, with Zelensky accusing Beijing of working in conjunction with the Kremlin to sabotage the conference by pressuring countries not to participate.

Furthermore, among the members of the group of emerging economies (BRIC), composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and considered close to Moscow, in addition to the absences of Moscow and Beijing, the Brazilian and South African authorities decided to send only observer emissaries.

India sent a senior Foreign Ministry official, Pavan Kapoor, until very recently ambassador to Russia, as an observer. Participants include, among others, US Vice President Kamala Harris, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The aim of the conference is to "inspire a future peace process," building on "the discussions that have taken place in recent months, notably the Ukrainian peace plan and other peace proposals based on the United Nations Charter and the fundamental principles of international law."

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