Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis represented Switzerland at a meeting of the UN Security Council dedicated to the war in Ukraine. In the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Russian representative to the UN in New York and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the head of the FDFA emphasised that the United Nations Charter, international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions are instruments that have been in place since the Second World War. ‘Nevertheless, we have not managed to silence the weapons,’ he said in New York. So far, the UN Security Council has not lived up to its responsibility: ’After 1,000 days of war, we still have not found a diplomatic solution.’
Making peace takes courage, the head of the FDFA emphasised. Switzerland showed this when it organised the Peace Conference on Ukraine during the war. The conference had helped to alleviate blockades caused by the war. However, continued dialogue would have to be conducted together with Russia.
Mr Cassis emphasised that reconstruction must also be well prepared for lasting peace. In this context, he referred to the conference on humanitarian demining that Switzerland is organising in Lausanne on 17 and 18 October 2024.
