Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s telephone conversation with Head of the Federal Department (Minister) of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis

On December 18, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with Head of the Federal Department (Minister) of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis at the initiative of the Swiss side.

The foreign ministers discussed the situation in the OSCE and ways to prevent further deterioration of the Organisation. The Russian side noted that it was necessary to strictly adhere to the fundamental rule of consensus if the OSCE wanted to continue as a truly pan-European forum.

The parties discussed the conflict around Ukraine. The minister went into details to discuss Russia’s position on settling the crisis emphasising the approaches President of Russia Vladimir Putin outline on June 14. The unacceptability of NATO expansion to the east was noted, which became one of the root causes of the current situation, leaving no alternative but to hold the special military operation uncontested. In this context, Russia’s readiness was reaffirmed to take every action necessary to ensure its security.

Considering Bern’s attempts to promote the idea of settlement based on Vladimir Zelensky’s formula, the Russian side noted that it was absolutely senseless to count on presenting Moscow with any ultimatums to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, agreed upon behind the scenes by the West and Kiev.

Sergey Lavrov drew special attention to the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law, which stipulates that the principle of respect for territorial integrity applies to states that observe the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples. The Minister also pointed out the imperative of observing linguistic and religious human rights enshrined in the UN Charter, which were legally prohibited by the Kiev regime, which intended to exterminate the Russian language and the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

This was another root cause of the Ukrainian crisis, however, all the current peace initiatives carefully sidestep the topic.

Switzerland, being a country that is interested in mediating the settlement process, could state publicly that it was unacceptable to violate the UN Charter so crudely, and also present its unique experience when representatives of different cultures and languages ​​coexist peacefully in one state as an example for Kiev.

The parties agreed to maintain contact.