Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to Cassis, dialogue with Russia is important in order to initiate a solution.
SRF News: You met the Russian Foreign Minister today. What was discussed? Was it also about the peace talks on Ukraine?
Ignazio Cassi: It was a bilateral meeting that lasted almost an hour. We talked about war and peace. That was the main topic. Of course I can’t say more.
Your counterpart has said that Switzerland is no longer neutral in the Ukraine war and is recklessly siding with Ukraine. Is Switzerland no longer a valid mediator?
We know these statements, they have been consistent for a year and a half now. They are an instrument of war and we take note of that. But the fact is that we talked together for an hour. And this is important because without this dialogue with all these different countries, Ukraine’s wishes to somehow start a process will also become difficult to achieve.
Was the conversation as rough as the foreign minister’s tone afterwards? Or are you hopeful that there will be peace talks with Russia at some point? Maybe through Swiss mediation?
The conversation with Foreign Minister Lavrov was absolutely peaceful between us. That doesn’t mean we meant the same thing or had the same expectations. But I think it’s an important step in even talking about the substance of the discussion.
Viviane Manz conducted the interview.