Switzerland - Russia Russia praises Switzerland's willingness to engage in dialog
The Russian ambassador in Bern, Sergei Garmonin, has praised Switzerland for its willingness to engage in dialog. "The situation in Switzerland is noticeably better than in a number of other Western countries," he said in an interview published on X on Tuesday.
31.12.2024, 12:39
SDA
Despite the tense relations between Switzerland and Russia, the 71-year-old Russian diplomat emphasized the maintenance of communication channels with the Swiss authorities. In many other countries, political dialog had been "completely restricted and frozen".
Overall, however, Garmonin described bilateral relations with Switzerland as "difficult". The Russian spoke of a "significant reduction in bilateral cooperation by Bern".
Relations between Bern and Moscow had deteriorated due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the ongoing war. Switzerland adopted Western sanctions against Russia and organized a peace summit together with Ukraine at Bürgenstock NW last summer. Russia was not invited and publicly questioned Switzerland's traditional neutrality.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the phone in mid-December. Lavrov explained Russia's position on resolving the situation in Ukraine. Switzerland's chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2026 was also discussed.
