ZURICH (Reuters) -Switzerland would be ready to host Russian President Vladimir Putin for any peace talks on Ukraine despite an existing arrest warrant for him from the International Criminal Court, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said on Tuesday.
Neutral Switzerland is a signatory to the ICC but Cassis told Swiss national broadcaster SRF that provided Putin was coming for peace purposes, the country could receive him.
“This has to do with our diplomatic role, with international Geneva as (the European) headquarters of the United Nations,” Cassis told the broadcaster.
French President Emmanuel Macron mooted Geneva as a potential location for Ukraine peace talks between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after a meeting between U.S. President Trump, Zelenskiy and European leaders in Washington.
The ICC issued its warrant in 2023, just over a year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, accusing Putin of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.
Russia denies allegations of war crimes and the Kremlin, which did not sign the ICC’s founding treaty, has dismissed the warrant as null and void.
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker on Tuesday also weighed in, saying his country supported any initiative leading to a just and lasting peace that protects Ukrainian and European security interests.
“As proud host of (the) OSCE and many other International Organisations we stand ready to offer our good services,” he said on social media platform X.
(Reporting by Dave Graham, additional reporting by Madeline Chambers, editing by Thomas Seythal)
