Switzerland would grant “immunity” to Russian President Vladimir Putin if he visits the country for hypothetical peace talks with Ukraine, the Swiss foreign minister said Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump held intensive talks with European leaders at the White House on Monday, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which he phoned Putin and suggested the two warring leaders meet to hash out a peace deal. In a post on Truth Social, he said he had begun arranging a summit, albeit offering scant details.
French President Emmanuel Macron suggested Tuesday that such a meeting could take place in Geneva. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani concurred, saying the Swiss city “could be the right venue.”
Putin, who has been the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant since 2023 for war crimes in Ukraine committed during the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion, would not be arrested if he came to the Alpine country to participate in a “peace conference,” Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis announced, adding Switzerland was “ready for such a meeting.”
“We have always signaled our willingness, but it naturally depends on the will of the major powers,” Cassis said.
Switzerland had “clarified the legal situation,” he added, and could host such a summit “despite the arrest warrant against Putin because of our special role and Geneva’s role as the European headquarters of the U.N.”
But the Kremlin has publicly yet to agree to Putin meeting Zelenskyy at all, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov prevaricating Tuesday. “Any contacts involving top officials must be prepared with the utmost care,” he said.
Trump repeated his claim Tuesday that he had organized a confab, telling Fox News he had “sort of set it [a summit] up with Putin and Zelenskyy.”
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