Head of Ukraine’s leading political party criticises Switzerland for its position on arms for Ukraine
Pravda Ukraine
Davyd Arakhamiia, head of the Servant of the People party faction, has criticised Switzerland for its position on the supply of arms to Ukraine and also questioned the effectiveness of its policy of neutrality.
Source: Arakhamiia in an interview with Keystone-ATS, as reported by European Pravda
Details: The head of the Servant of the People party explained that he understands Switzerland’s reluctance to deliver weapons to Ukraine directly, but said he didn’t understand why it blocks the re-export of its own weapons by other states.
Quote: “If Switzerland continues to follow this path, it will ultimately lose its arms market completely. This would be the end of the Swiss arms industry,” he believes.
Arakhamiia claims that Ukraine knows of cases where the presence of Swiss components in certain weapons became an obstacle to their sale because buyers “don’t want to pay for something that they can’t then give to anyone”.
The top politician of the Servant of the People party said he does not see much perspective in the concept of neutrality.
“Neutrality helped the Swiss people after World War II, but I don’t think it works in today’s world,” he said.
Arakhamiia also called on Switzerland to invest more in Ukraine – in particular in the issue of joint production of weapons, mentioning its important contributions in the field of financial support and demining.
Currently, Switzerland’s neutrality prohibits the delivery of weapons directly to war zones. This rule applies even if another country has bought weapons from Switzerland: the buyer countries must sign a so-called non-re-export declaration.
Background: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during an address to members of the Swiss Parliament in June, called on them to unblock arms exports to Ukraine to bring peace closer.
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