Switzerland, which has long jealously guarded its neutral status in the face of past world crises, said Monday it will join European Union sanctions against Russia and top officials including President Vladimir Putin in the wake of last week’s invasion of Ukraine.
The governing Swiss Federal Council in an emergency meeting Monday voted to impose the sanctions, which includes asset freezes on Russian individuals and companies, penalties targeting Mr. Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov personally, the closure of Swiss airspace to Russian flights, a ban on trade and investment with breakaway separatist Ukrainian enclaves in Donetsk and Luhansk and a partial suspension of a 2009 visa agreement for Russian travelers.
The Council said in a statement it took Switzerland’s neutrality and peace policies into account before agreeing to the EU sanctions package.
A major center of finance in Europe, Switzerland had been under growing pressure to adopt the EU sanctions approved over the weekend.
Swiss Federal President Ignazio Cassis acknowledged Monday at a news briefing that the decision was “an unparalleled action for Switzerland, who has always stayed neutral before.”
“Russia’s attack is an attack on freedom, an attack on democracy, an attack on the civil population, and an attack on the institutions of a free country,” Mr. Cassis said. “This cannot be accepted regarding international law, this cannot be accepted politically, and this cannot be accepted morally.”
The Swiss governing body said it would consider further sanctions against Russia on a “case-by-case basis.”
Swiss officials also said they were preparing a shipment of relief supplies to Warsaw, Poland, in the coming days for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the fighting in their home country.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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