By Pascal Najadi
It is embarrassing enough that Sergey Lavrov called on Swiss President Ignazio Cassis in New York at the UN for Switzerland to return to neutrality. One cannot hold that against the star diplomat Lavrov. He is a real politician, probably the best one currently moving in the international arena. I think it was good that Dr. Cassis met with him, the photo op was also OK. It is better to talk than to remain silent, because serious misunderstandings often arise with incommunicados, which usually cannot be corrected later on.
The situation in Ukraine has now reached a new dimension with the referenda. It is also clear, rightly or wrongly, that the new territories in the Donbass will fully belong to the Russian Federation as of 30th September onwards, at least from the Russian perspective. And that is precisely the problem. It is imperative that we now analyze both points of view, and do so with the utmost caution and tact of the first order.
We are on the brink of nuclear war - Peace now must be fought for.
Peace must now defeat war at all costs. But it will only succeed if the main players, America and Russia, come to the negotiating table in Geneva. Dr Cassis has ruined our neutrality, which we have had since 1815, in just seven months. We are no longer credible as a neutral emissary for peace, at least not from Russia's point of view. This cannot be so; we need both principal parties at the negotiating table in Geneva.
It is now high time that Dr. Cassis changes his course and starts to think and act like a diplomat. The Swiss Confederation is not the EU and the first thing to do is to drop all EU sanctions against Russia. Only then will we be a reliable broker for peace.
The arena for peace is ready in Switzerland. It is now up to us to act concretely and decisively with a cool head. We must now fight for peace and I believe that we can succeed. Hope dies last. Let us hope that peace does not die with it. Can't warn enough before it is too late to act.
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