Cassis: Swiss want to get Ukraine peace talks back on track

Cassis: Switzerland wants to get peace talks back on track Keystone-SDA

After Swiss security adviser Gabriel Lüchinger travelled to Kyiv and Moscow in August for talks, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis says Switzerland wants to “play our part in getting the peace talks back on track”.

Cassis himself had travelled to Kyiv and Moscow in February in his capacity as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. Following that, he said Switzerland had supported the Americans in mediating between Russia and Ukraine in Geneva. Both countries were war-weary after four-and-a-half years of conflict and were seeking ways forward, albeit on different terms, he added in an interview with SonntagsBlick.

Cassis did not comment on any specific outcomes of Lüchinger’s most recent trip. “Diplomacy is a labour of patience. Concrete results are the next steps, which are confidential,” the foreign minister said. Switzerland is continuing to work towards a diplomatic breakthrough, he said.

Following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s suggestion that Switzerland could be a possible venue for negotiations with the US and Russia, Cassis said Bern is hoping for talks in Geneva. However, there has not yet been a government decision on a possible peace conference in Switzerland, he said. “Nothing has been decided yet; we are continuing to work persistently behind the scenes – and everything could change,” said Cassis.

Cassis said he has also requested a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of his forthcoming trip to New York. The OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Lugano is also scheduled for the end of the year. “The Russian and US foreign ministers should attend. This offers opportunities for dialogue and perhaps for more,” Cassis said.

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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.