Switzerland would grant Russian President Vladimir Putin immunity if he came to the country for talks on peace in Ukraine, despite the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant, it said Tuesday.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told a press conference that, under certain circumstances, he would be allowed to set foot in Switzerland.
Last year, the Swiss government defined “the rules for granting immunity to a person under an international arrest warrant. If this person comes for a peace conference -- not if they come for private reasons”, Cassis said.
French President Emmanuel Macron raised the possibility of a peace summit between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy being held in Europe, in “a neutral country, maybe Switzerland.”
“I’m pushing for Geneva,” he said in an interview aired earlier Tuesday on French news channel LCI.
Cassis said Switzerland was fully prepared to host such a meeting and highlighted the militarily-neutral country’s long expertise in the field.
However, he pointed out that Russia had gone cold on Switzerland, which has decided to match the sanctions imposed by the neighboring European Union since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Cassis said he had “constantly reiterated this willingness” to organize such meetings during his contacts with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over recent months.
“I was told that since Switzerland adopted European sanctions, they have naturally lost some of the desire to do so in Switzerland,” he added.
Cassis mentioned the precedent of last month’s Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, a three-day gathering convened by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Switzerland permitted Russia’s participation, with Valentina Matviyenko, president of the upper house of Russia’s Federal Assembly, attending despite international sanctions.
Switzerland said it acted in accordance with law and international agreements.
Swiss authorities may authorize exemptions from travel restrictions, “notably if the person is travelling to participate in an international conference,” a Swiss foreign ministry spokesman told AFP at the time.
Putin last visited Geneva for his June 2021 summit with then President Joe Biden.
The most recent bilateral talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul. Turkey is considered more friendly by Moscow, despite its membership of NATO.
