Switzerland on Tuesday said it would grant Russian President Vladimir Putin immunity if he attended peace talks on Ukraine in the country, despite an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).Speaking at a press conference, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis clarified that Putin could enter Switzerland with immunity only if he came for an official peace conference, not for private visits.Earlier 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.”French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested Switzerland, particularly Geneva, as a possible venue for a future summit between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Cassis said Switzerland was fully prepared to host, citing its tradition of neutrality and experience in international diplomacy.”I’m pushing for Geneva,” he said in an interview aired earlier Tuesday on French news channel LCI. However, he acknowledged that Moscow’s stance toward Switzerland has cooled since Bern aligned itself with European Union sanctions after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He said he had repeatedly offered to host talks during his recent contacts with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov but received little interest.”I was told that since Switzerland adopted European sanctions, they have naturally lost some of the desire to do so in Switzerland,” he noted.Still, Switzerland allowed Russia to take part in last month’s World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva, where Valentina Matviyenko, head of Russia’s upper house of parliament, attended despite international sanctions. Switzerland said it acted in line with international law and agreements.Putin last visited Geneva in 2021 for his summit with then US President Joe Biden. The last direct Russia-Ukraine talks were held in Istanbul, with Turkey seen as a more Moscow-friendly venue.
