Why June meet on Ukraine conflict is a testament to Switzerland’s standing as a peacemaker

An international peace conference on Ukraine organised by the Swiss on June 15-16 will be a masterclass in understanding the art and craft of the impossible. There will be no grandstanding nor will there be a final declaration. But there will be no disappointment either because the process between now and June will be a shock absorber that, at the very least, will succeed in placing all thorny issues on the table.

In this article, I write about why I believe Swiss diplomats are well-placed to shepherd this difficult international dossier. Before I do that, let me tell you what happened last weekend to drive home the point that the tiny Alpine nation has a long history of working in conflict zones because it enjoys the trust of warring parties.

On the night of Saturday and Sunday, April 13-14, when Iran bombed Israel, Swiss diplomats were in constant touch with the crisis room at the White House in Washington. They transmitted a message they had received from Tehran telling them about the attacks, the nature of which would be “destructive.” Was it just a message or is there more, considering that this is the first time Iran attacked Israel directly? France, the UK and the US were on the ground defending Israel. The dossier is very “live” here as all wait for Israel’s actions.

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Switzerland represents the US in Iran since the 1979 hostage crisis. It has a task force on the Middle East and backs a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine question. Swiss diplomacy does not take a stand on terrorist organisations but departing from practice, it recently called Hamas a “terrorist organisation”. Berne made it clear that Hamas is not Palestinians — and vice versa. It has offered its good offices to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to speak to all parties in the Middle East to find lasting peace in the region.

Now, I turn to the Ukraine peace conference. Swiss President Viola Amherd and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told journalists they are aware of the unknowns leading up to June but “in view of the long-standing diplomatic tradition and encouraging feedback during the exploratory phase, it considers it its responsibility to contribute to the peace process in Ukraine.”