Ukrainian ambassador praises ‘unprecedented’ Swiss support

"I am convinced that Switzerland will continue to support the international order and the rule of law", said Venediktova. Keystone-SDA

Three years after the full-scale Russian invasion began, Switzerland's solidarity with Ukraine remains unprecedented, said Ukrainian ambassador Iryna Venediktova on Monday. Switzerland is helping the country every day in a very difficult period, she said.

In an interview with Tamedia newspapers, the Ukrainian diplomat said that Switzerland is and will remain an important platform for negotiations.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

“I am convinced that Switzerland will continue to support the international order and the rule of law”, said Venediktova.

Bern is also investing heavily in the development of Ukraine’s democratic institutions, she said. This week, for example, Switzerland will be hosting two Ukrainian delegations, who will be addressing issues relating to energy infrastructure and justice, said the ambassador, adding that Swiss humanitarian aid is “very valuable”.

+ How Switzerland is managing foreign aid at a time of global upheaval

Frozen funds

The former Ukrainian attorney-general called on Bern to align its policy on frozen Russian assets with that of the European Union (EU). She said the Swiss government should transfer the interest on frozen Russian state funds to Ukraine.

+ Switzerland and frozen Russian assets: where do things stand?

The Swiss parliament adopted a motion to this effect a little over a year ago. The motion calls on the government to take steps to establish an international legal basis for a compensation mechanism.

The aim of this mechanism would be to authorise the transfer of frozen funds from the central bank of the aggressor state or the assets of state-owned companies to the state being attacked. “I know that parliamentarians are very active and regularly ask for an account of progress on this process”, said the ambassador.

Translated from French with DeepL/gw

How we work

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [e-mail].