Could coronavirus lead to world peace?

International leaders throw their weight behind plans for a global ceasefire – but will it hold?

wd-peace_dove_2_-_alberto_pizzoli_afp_via_getty_images.jpg
(Image credit: Alberto Pizzolia/AFP via Getty Images)

International leaders look set to agree a landmark global ceasefire that could bring a temporary halt to many of the world’s conflicts, in a rare moment of solidarity to help combat the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, Macron told RFI he had secured the support of four of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council needed for a ceasefire to be operable, with Russian President Vladimir Putin “certain to agree too”.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said “work is underway”, and if agreed the move would represent “a major act of international co-operation at a time when multilateral co-operation in other areas is weakening”, reports Business Insider.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

However, “it remains to be seen whether the peace initiative will be anything more than a hopeful declaration in forcing a halt to wars worldwide,” says The Times.

The newspaper notes that a unilateral two-week ceasefire called by the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen came into effect on 9 April has already broken down, while Kremlin-backed Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad are unlikely to give their opponents any breathing room.

“Clearly, such an action would not eradicate some of the greatest challenges to world peace” says CNN, but it nevertheless demonstrates “a rare sign of global unity in the current climate” says US news site Axios, especially after Trump announced his plan to halt US funding to the World Health Organization and again questioned China’s transparency over the coronavirus outbreak, casting doubt on its reporting of cases and the origins of the virus.

It would also mark a moment of personal triumph for Macron. CNN says France's 42-year-old president “is now positioning himself to take over the mantle of global leadership long reserved to the older leaders of China, Russia or especially the United States”.

“And right now, he has no real challengers”.