Ambassador: Moscow won’t accept Swiss mediation in Ukraine war

Russian ambassador Sergei Garmonin (right, here with Swiss President Alain Berset) said Moscow would not accept any Swiss mediation in the Ukraine war. Keystone / Peter Schneider

Russia's ambassador to Switzerland says Moscow cannot accept any Swiss-hosted peace summit on Ukraine after the Swiss joined European Union sanctions.

In an interview with Swiss newspaper Le TempsExternal link, Sergei Garmonin added that Switzerland had lost its reputation for neutrality.

He said that Swiss mediation between Moscow and Kyiv was “out of the question”, following Russia’s ranking of Switzerland as an “unfriendly” country in March 2022. Garmonin added that Russia’s position had not changed because “we do not see any positive change in the position of the official Swiss authorities”.

Switzerland has traditionally served as a location for high-level talks between foreign powers. On June 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had suggested that the Alpine country could set up a global peace summit to help bring the war to an end.

But Garmonin rejected the idea, saying that Moscow would not accept that. “Switzerland has unfortunately lost its status as a neutral state and can no longer act as a mediator or as a representative of interests.”

Between sanctions and neutrality

Switzerland has been harshly criticised by Russia for adopting the European Union’s sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine and freezing Russian assets worth CHF7.5 billion ($8.36 billion).

On the other hand, earlier this week, the Swiss government rejected an export request from Ruag AG to export 96 Leopard tanks to Ukraine, precisely citing the Swiss neutrality policy.

During his interview with Le Temps, Garmonin also addressed the accusations against pro-Russian hackers setting up attacks against Swiss targets. “We believe that it could well be a false flag operation and that it would be unwise to blame Russia without presenting concrete evidence,” he said.