Swiss President Alain Berset (Alain) promised long-term support to Ukraine on Saturday at a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kiev, where he also attended an international summit on food safety, the Swiss government announced.
Ukraine is organizing an international summit to showcase its grain export efforts as Russia blockades the Black Sea, through which Ukraine's main grain export route passes.
"In talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, President Berset emphasized that Switzerland stands in solidarity with Ukraine in the long run, even in times of simultaneous multiple crises," the Swiss government announced.
Zelensky said on the X network that demining, peace proposals and the use of profits from frozen Russian assets were also discussed.
Switzerland previously said it had frozen Russian assets worth about 7,5 billion Swiss francs (7,7 billion euros).
In Ukraine, Berset also visited Bucha, where many civilians were killed in the early stages of the war, and laid flowers at a memorial in Kiev for the Soviet-era Holodomor, when millions of Ukrainian peasants starved to death.
He also said that Switzerland would provide additional assistance to Ukraine, with an additional 10 ambulances and six fire engines to replace the damaged ones.
Switzerland, despite the principle of neutrality embedded in its constitution, imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and joined the international call for the formation of a special tribunal to deal with the Russian crime of aggression against Ukraine.
Switzerland states that there is no contradiction because the legal definition of neutrality means that neither warring party is favored militarily.
Source: Reuters
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