Switzerland will adopt all the sanctions that the European Union has imposed on Russian people and companies and freeze their assets to punish the invasion of Ukraine, the government said in a sharp deviation from the country's traditional neutrality.
"We are in an extraordinary situation where extraordinary measures could be decided," President and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told a news conference in Bern on Monday, flanked by the finance, defence and justice ministers.
Only history would tell if such a move could happen again, he said. Swiss neutrality remained intact but "of course we stand on the side of Western values," he added.
Switzerland also adopted financial sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, effective immediately, and closed its airspace to most Russian aircraft.
Switzerland has steered clear of imposing sanctions in a string of crises, including when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Up to now, the exception has been sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council, which it has to implement under international law.
In view of Russia's military intervention in Ukraine, the Swiss cabinet decided to adopt the packages of sanctions the EU imposed on Feb. 23 and 25, the government said.
The EU's head diplomat, Josep Borrell, welcomed the move and said it was "good news" that transferring money to Switzerland would no longer help Russian oligarchs.
