World Peace Day in the world and Ukraine: what steps have been taken over the year to achieve peace
Kyiv • UNN
September 21 marks the International Day of Peace, as well as the Day of Peace in Ukraine, established in 2002. Stanislav Zhelikhovsky, a candidate of political sciences, spoke about world initiatives and Ukraine's contribution to peace, as well as diplomatic steps and challenges.
Today, September 21, marks the International Day of Peace and the Day of Peace in Ukraine, which was established in our country in 2002. For our state, this holiday has a special meaning, because throughout its history, the Ukrainian state has fought for its peaceful existence. Today, peace in Ukraine is not an abstract desire, it is a conscious goal. Stanislav Zhelikhovsky, a candidate of political sciences and international expert, told UNN about the world's initiatives and Ukraine's contribution to peace, and what diplomatic steps, humanitarian actions, and challenges await Ukraine.
Meaning and history of the International Day of Peace
The organized public movement for peace began in 1815 in the USA. In 1843, the first International Peace Congress was held in London.
By 1914, there were about 160 various organizations around the world that aimed to fight for peace. However, all of them could not prevent the outbreak of the First World War.
After its end, the League of Nations was created - an organization that was supposed to become an international arbiter in resolving political disputes between states. 60 countries signed the Briand-Kellogg Pact, which rejected war as a way to resolve disputes between states.
However, the League of Nations failed to cope with its tasks, and with the beginning of the Second World War, it practically ceased to exist.
In 1945, the UN replaced the League of Nations. The confrontation between the USA and the USSR very quickly led to the "Cold War". At the same time, military conflicts arose between various states almost every year. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world was on the verge of nuclear war.
Meanwhile, anti-war movements gained increasing popularity in the world. The anti-war movement was especially powerful in the USA during the Vietnam War.
In 1981, at the initiative of the UN, the International Day of Peace was introduced, which has been celebrated annually on September 21 since 2001. In Ukraine, the Day of Peace has been celebrated since 2002.
In that year, President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, by decree No. 100/2002 "Confirming Ukraine's commitment to the ideals of peace and supporting the decision of the UN General Assembly," decided to establish the Day of Peace in Ukraine, to be celebrated annually on September 21 - on the International Day of Peace.
World initiatives and Ukraine's contribution to peace
As Zhelikhovsky notes, if we talk about the period of the second administration of US President Donald Trump, there were certain hopes that he would still be able to achieve a peaceful settlement, at least in the format of a ceasefire.
Indeed, many steps were taken, both by the American administration itself and by the Ukrainian state, because Ukraine is most interested in stopping hostilities on its territory. And official Kyiv, let's say, talked a lot about this, stated, again, high-ranking officials, diplomats, that we are ready to go to negotiations and even Ukraine is open to a meeting at the highest level, that is, a meeting of heads of state in order to stop hostilities. However, the situation has changed little compared to a year ago, as of autumn 2024. It was during that period that Donald Trump stated the possibility of stopping hostilities within 24 hours, that it would be possible to conclude an agreement with Putin, but we see that a year has passed, Trump has indeed become president, and everything he tried to do has not been realized. But accordingly, Ukraine took its own steps on the path to stopping the hot phase of the war. Often it did this together with European partners, and also in coordination with the USA
He notes that it can be said that with Trump's coming to the presidency, little has changed for Ukraine, because Ukraine is still in active hostilities.
However, according to the expert, since the beginning of the year, several important meetings have taken place, including in the Oval Office - Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as a summit in London, when partner countries discussed the "Peace Plan."
It was during that period that communications were already taking place. First of all, we are talking about what was happening between Washington and Moscow, that is, then Trump already gave, so to speak, Russia the opportunity to emerge from a certain isolation, especially if we are talking about communication with the Western world, and then we remember what happened. And meetings took place in Turkey, in the Middle East countries, in Saudi Arabia, for example, there were several rounds of negotiations. And a little later, Ukraine also began to work here. If we are talking specifically about meetings with the Russian side, because we had meetings with the American side
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Diplomatic steps, humanitarian actions and challenges of the year
Earlier, Trump stated that if Europe did something about China, for example, imposed sanctions or tariffs, Beijing could accelerate the end of the war in Ukraine.
Well, if they had applied sanctions, for example, or tariffs, or whatever you want to call it, if they had done that to China, I think the war might have ended, because China is the biggest buyer of oil from Russia. And I think they have other leverage over Russia.
Zhelikhovsky reminds that Trump continues to invent new excuses in the context of introducing new sanctions against Russia, which would force Russia to a ceasefire.
Although, in principle, if we are talking about his remarks to Europe, they are valid. We see that in fact, EU countries are still dependent on Russian raw materials. And this is not only about Hungary and Slovakia, but about some European states, even large European countries. And some of them buy, for example, Russian energy carriers through intermediary countries. We can say that Europe has taken important steps in this direction and we see that there is actually a strategy to get rid of dependence on Russian energy resources.
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He notes that Trump probably still intends to negotiate with Putin, and if the US imposes restrictions against Russia and its economic partners, then for Ukraine, this will close the window of opportunity to end hostilities.
In summary, this year was indeed promising. There were many attempts that could be considered as a basis for a peaceful settlement. And Ukraine, for its part, it seems to me, did the maximum it could in these realities, even preparing for direct negotiations with the Russian dictator. I want to remind you that right after the meeting in Anchorage, Ukraine was ready to meet with Putin anywhere to stop hostilities. Instead, Russia began to set conditions, again saying that we have an illegitimate government, again issuing ultimatums. In fact, we have not moved away from what we saw in Istanbul in 2022. Therefore, it seems to me that we are currently in such a suspended state. And the war continues, but the negotiation track was supposedly started. However, we now see that nothing has really changed. And we will see what other contacts there will be between the American and Russian sides.