Swiss president repeats good offices offer to Russian foreign minister

A photo of Swiss President Ignazio Cassis (right) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov circulated on Twitter following the bilateral meeting in New York. Twitter

Ignazio Cassis has reiterated the offer for Switzerland to represent Ukraine’s interests in Russia. He spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

In a bilateral meeting at the annual UN meeting marked by the war in Ukraine, Cassis, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, said Switzerland was ready to offer its good offices to Ukraine and Russia. No new announcement on such a power-protecting mandate was made after the meeting, according to the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA.

But early on Thursday morning the Russian foreign ministry tweetedExternal link a photo of the Lavrov-Cassis meeting on September 21 and a statement that Bern had been called on “to return to neutral state policy, which in previous years won the Confederation recognition in the international arena”.

In August, Ukraine agreed that Switzerland could represent its interests in Russia. However, Russia rejected the offer arguing that Switzerland was no longer neutral because it had joined Western sanctions against Russia.

During their meeting in New York Cassis also expressed concerns about any possible use of nuclear weapons and Russian plans to hold referendums in Ukraine. “During my meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, I asked Russia to refrain from holding so-called referendums in the occupied territories of Ukraine,” Cassis said after the meeting.

In his speech at the plenary session to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, the Swiss president strongly condemned the Russian military aggression in Ukraine and demanded an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops. “This war can only end with a diplomatic solution,” Cassis said.

Reaction

Another photo of Cassis smiling and shaking hands with Lavrov, which was circulated on Twitter by the Russian Foreign Minister on Wednesday after the meeting, drew criticism from some Swiss politicians. Newspaper BlickreportedExternal link that Cassis was the only leader from a Western democracy pictured with Lavrov.

In a response to Blick, the Swiss foreign ministry said there were several photojournalists present at the beginning of the meeting. “Naturally there are pictures of it – as of all meetings of the Swiss president in New York. At the UN, media are allowed at the beginning of all meetings.”