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In a recent phone call from her home in Montreal, Chew-Bose recalls that the first villa they saw while location scouting in Cassis, in the south of France, ended up being the one they used.

It’s expected to draw top government officials from dozens of countries, following on a plan laid out by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis in recent months.

Much of the diplomatic uncertainty has centered on whether key Russia ally China might attend — and Cassis pressed for Beijing’s support for Switzerland’s ambitions during a trip to the Chinese capital last month.

“The first country that we spoke with, after Ukraine of course, was Russia, because a peace process cannot happen without Russia, even if it won’t be there for the first meeting” Cassis told reporters Wednesday in the Swiss capital, Bern.

In front of a built-in cabinet, where stacks of plates and linens and bottles of wine from nearby Cassis are stored behind chicken wire, sit heavy, floridly carved banquettes like those on an old-fashioned carousel.