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Switzerland to strengthen military cooperation with the US

At a press conference in Washington on Friday, Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd said that Switzerland should cooperate more closely with the US and western defence alliance NATO.

Published: 14 May 2022 16:48 CEST

Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd attends a press conference in Bern in 2020.

Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd attends a press conference in Bern in 2020. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

The head of the Swiss Government’s Department of Defence, Viola Amherd, told a media briefing in Washington on Friday that Switzerland must strengthen international cooperation, including with the United States.

Amherd, who has been on a five-day working visit to the USA, said that the war in Ukraine is a massive and brutal violation of international law and must not be tolerated. When it comes to fundamental principles such as freedom, democracy, and the right to self-determination, Switzerland must work more closely with like-minded countries including the US, Amherd said.

READ ALSO: OPINION: Switzerland’s neutrality not immune to impacts of Ukraine invasion

The Swiss politician also discussed how the security environment in Europe has changed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks. Hicks reiterated that the US strongly supports the sale of 36 F-35 fighter aircraft and five “Patriot” ground-based air defence systems to Switzerland.

Today I met w/ @vbs_ddps Federal Councillor Viola Amherd- we agreed to deepen cooperation on cyber security, discussed increasing #'s of women in the military services, Nat'l Security concerns caused by climate change, & U.S. support for F-35 acquisition. https://t.co/3yWIoqQpqu pic.twitter.com/46MF54I1at

— Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks (@DepSecDef) May 13, 2022

The deal, she said, builds on a successful security partnership between the US and Switzerland that has lasted for decades, and not only enhances Switzerland’s defence capabilities but also increases interoperability and cooperation with other European partners and the United States.

Amherd also said that Switzerland can and should move even closer to NATO.

“We still have some room for manoeuvre, even within the framework of neutral law, which allows us to cooperate more closely with NATO and also with our European partners,” Amherd said.

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Switzerland to host Ukraine peace conference without Russian involvement

The conference will take place at the luxury Burgenstock resort near the central city of Luzern on June 15th -16th and would be hosted by Swiss President Viola Amherd.

“This is a first step in a process towards a lasting peace,” she told reporters in Bern.

Russia quickly slammed the planned conference and Amherd acknowledged that “we will not sign a peace plan at this conference”, but said she hoped “there will be a second conference”.

“We hope to start the process.”

Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and is putting Ukrainian forces under new pressure, condemned the event as being part of a scheme by US President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party ahead of this year’s presidential election.

“American Democrats, who need photos and videos of events that supposedly indicate their project ‘Ukraine’ is still afloat, are behind this,” the state-run TASS news agency quoted foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.

Switzerland hopes to get Russia into later talks.

The government said in January, during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, that it wanted to organise a peace conference this year.

‘Support for peace’

The government said in a statement Wednesday that it “took note of the results of the exploratory phase of the high-level conference on peace in Ukraine”.

It determined that “there is currently sufficient international support for a high-level conference to launch the peace process.”

In January, Zelensky spoke of a “summit” without any Russian participation.

But traditionally neutral Switzerland wants to find a way to bring the Kremlin into the talks, and has been battling to attract China and other emerging powers.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis also tried to woo Moscow, meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in New York in January.

Russia, angered by the Swiss decision to follow the neighbouring European Union in imposing sanctions, has charged the country can no longer be considered neutral.

On Wednesday, Cassis acknowledged Russia’s absence from the table but stressed that the aim was to include Moscow in future talks.

“A peace process cannot happen without Russia, even though it will not be there during the first meeting,” he said.

Since deciding that it wanted to host a conference, the Swiss government said it had been “in direct contact with numerous states to explore options for initiating a peace process”.

Switzerland had held talks with G7 member states, the EU and representatives of the Global South, including China, India, South Africa and Brazil, it said.

Bern did not disclose who would be attending, but Swiss media reports said US President Joe Biden would be on the list.

The conference will be aimed at establishing “a forum for a high-level dialogue on ways to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine in accordance with international law and the UN Charter,” the government said.

“It aims to create a common understanding of a framework favourable to this objective and a concrete roadmap for Russia’s participation in the peace process.”

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