European leaders seem relieved their intense efforts to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a seat at the table where decisions about his country’s future were being made have paid off.
But the most difficult diplomacy now lies ahead. Among the more practical issues: Where could talks between Zelenskyy and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin actually take place?
Berlin: ‘Good venues in Europe’
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told DW on Wednesday there are “many good venues in Europe” for negotiations. He said Berlin has no ambitions to host though and pointed to Switzerland as somewhere that has “always been good in the past.”
But finding literal common ground between the US, Russia, Ukraine and possibly European states won’t be easy.
It’s also legally complex. Putin is wanted internationally, indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes including unlawfully transferring children from occupied areas of Ukraine into Russia — a charge he rejects.
That warrant makes travel a tricky endeavour for the Russian president. Technically, all of the 125 countries signed up to the ICC must arrest anyone against whom the ICC has issued a warrant, who enters their territory.
Neither Russia nor the US recognize the court’s jurisdiction, leading to some legal debate on whether Putin has immunity. On Wednesday, Washington advanced its ongoing diplomatic assault on the ICC by sanctioning more judges.
So which states are being floated as potential hosts for peace talks?
Switzerland: A Franco-German favorite
With France also citing the Swiss city of Geneva as an ideal site for peace negotiations, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said his country is “more than ready” to host talks, broadcaster RTS reports.
Although Switzerland is a member of the ICC, its government says Putin would be granted “immunity” for talks.
But Matthias Holvoet, a lecturer in international criminal law at the University of Amsterdam, told DW that’s legally tenuous. In liberal democracies, independent judiciaries — not governments — should make decisions about such arrests, he said.
“In reality, I would guess that there will be some kind of agreement between the executive and the judiciary to not execute these arrest warrants,” Holvoet explained, noting that there are few consequences for ignoring ICC rules.
Switzerland has a long history of neutrality, houses the United Nations, and has steered clear of both the European Union and the military alliance NATO. The Alpine country has however sanctioned Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The Swiss government says it has been involved in 30 peace processes, including talks on Armenia, Cyprus, Mozambique and Sudan. In 2021, Geneva hosted talks between Putin and former US president Joe Biden.
Austria: Inside EU, outside NATO
Austria’s chancellor has also offered his country’s capital Vienna as a possible venue. Austria is an EU member but has been militarily neutral since the 1950s and remains outside of NATO.
“Austria fancies itself as a bridge builder between east and west,” Reinhard Heinisch, a professor of political science at the University of Salzburg, told DW, highlighting Vienna’s long record of diplomatic deal making, from high stakes US-Russia talks during the Cold War to negotiations on Iran’s nucler program this decade.
As an ICC member, Vienna faces the same legal dilemma as Switzerland. But, Heinisch says, “Austria is famous for compromises,” adding that “much is left to interpretation” in the country’s legal code.
Law professor Holvoet says it’s possible to delay a warrant with an agreement in the United Nations Security Council, but he thinks that’s a political non-starter.
Hungary: Bad memories in Budapest
The US, meanwhile, is reportedly eyeing Hungary as a venue. The central European nation withdrew from the ICC earlier this year over its indictment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally of Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.
It may be easier in the sense of international law but Budapest is politically unpalatable for many Europeans. Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk took to X on Wednesday to remind followers that Ukraine had already been granted ill-fated security guarantees in the Hungarian capital back in 1994. That year, Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security assurances from the US, Russia and the UK.
“Maybe I’m superstitious but this time I would try to find another place,” Tusk wrote.
Hungary is also seen as the EU’s chief provocateur, with its habit of blocking or watering down EU-wide sanctions on Russia.
“Many in the European Union have regarded Orban as a sort of Trojan horse for Russian interests,” the University of Salzburg’s Heinisch explained. However, he added, Europe may struggle to push back if Trump and Putin both back Budapest as a venue.
Turkey: Inside NATO, outside ICC
Turkish media are also speculating as to whether Zelenskyy and Putin could meet in their country, after Putin called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Putin had thanked Erdogan for “efforts to facilitate Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul.”
Turkey has already hosted several lower-level rounds of talks between Kyiv and Moscow this year, resulting in prisoner exchanges.
Geographically the country straddles the European and Asian continents and, like both Russia and Ukraine, has a Black Sea coastline. Turkey is a member of NATO but is outside the European Union and is not a signatory to the ICC.
It has supplied weapons to Ukraine since Russia invaded but also kept up cordial ties with Moscow.
Going to the Gulf?
Outside of Europe, Saudi Arabia and Qatar both have track records as international negotiators and neither are members of the ICC.
Officials from Ukraine, the US and Russia separately held talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah earlier this year, after which Washington agreed to share intelligence with Kyiv again.
Saudi Arabia’s neighbor Qatar has also mediated talks which led to Russia and Ukraine agreeing to return several children.
In the past, the EU has pushed Gulf states to be more critical of Moscow, crack down on sanctions evasion, and offer more support to Ukraine.
DW’s Rosalia Romaniec contributed to reporting
