Tagliavini who was also a senior negotiator for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said that during her 20-year career as Swiss diplomat she had negotiated several times with people who “had blood on their hands”.
In some cases, it was possible to appeal to their conscience even if they at first seemed to have no morals, she said in an interview published in the newspapers of the Tamedia group on Wednesday.
It allowed to have a “foot in the door”, she added. She referred to her experience in conflicts in Chechnya, Georgia and Ukraine.
Asked if the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is a likeable person, she said all people must be measured by their actions and that he appeared “very controlled” when she met him on several occasions during her diplomatic career between 1982 to 2015.
Tagliavini also explained that is a diplomatic custom to greet negotiating partners with a smile, but she added that public photographs of such meetings are often misread by the public.
Over the past few months, press photographs from meetings between top Russian diplomats and the Swiss foreign minister and the head of the Swiss-led International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) respectively prompted public criticism.
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Powder permitted to help with holes in Emmental cheese
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The Federal Administrative Court has authorised the use of hay flower powder in the production of Emmental cheese with a protected designation of origin.
Estates of Schwarzenbach and Maillart honoured by UNESCO
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The estates of Swiss writers Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908-1942) and Ella Maillart (1903-1997) are to be included in the Memory of the World Register.
Novartis announces billion-dollar investments in the US
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Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis plans to invest a total of $23 billion in the US over the next five years to expand production and research.
Money laundering and paedophile crime increase in Switzerland
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The number of suspected cases of money laundering, reports of threats against officers and cases of paedophile crime increased last year, in some cases sharply.
Toblerone invests in Bern and puts new emphasis on Swiss cross
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Since US multinational Mondelēz relocated part of Toblerone production to Slovakia in 2023, the company is no longer allowed to call its chocolate “Swiss made”.
Switzerland and 35 other members declare support for WTO
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Switzerland and 35 other members have recommitted themselves to honouring the rules of the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO).
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Switzerland is ‘European but independent’ says top diplomat
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Has Switzerland given up its neutrality? We asked Pascale Baeriswyl, head of the Swiss mission to the United Nations in New York.
Swiss negotiator hopeful after tough Ukraine talks
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She described the agreement as a “complete package of measures” to put the terms of last September’s Minsk Protocol agreement into practice. That agreement included a 12-point plan involving a cease-fire, a neutral monitoring zone, early elections and a reconstruction programme, among other steps. Tagliavini, who was appointed to represent to Organisation for Security and…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.