Russia summons Swiss ambassador in protest over motions to fund Ukraine reparations

Russia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday summoned Switzerland’s ambassador over the Swiss parliament’s approval of motions authorizing the government to work on a way to seize and transfer Russian assets to fund reparations for Ukraine.

Russia summoned Ambassador Krystyna Marty Lang to protest at the narrowly passed Swiss motions which authorized the Swiss government to work on creating a reparations mechanism in international law for a country illegally attacked.

 "On March 12, Swiss Ambassador to Moscow Krystyna Marty Lang was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and was issued a protest over the Swiss parliament's decision to initiate the development of a legal foundation for a mechanism that would allow for the confiscation of the Russian Federation’s government assets located in the Swiss Confederation," the statement said.

The ministry also said Russia strongly condemns this move by the Swiss government as it "flagrantly violates the fundamental principles and norms of international law with regard to state immunity."

"It has been underscored that any encroachment on Russian government property under the guise of any far-fetched 'reparation mechanism' would be nothing else but theft at the state level," the ministry said. "In the event of practical implementation of such plans by Bern, retaliatory measures from the Russian side will be inevitable."