Swiss Minister of Economy, Education and Research Guy Parmelin said that the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine would be a violation of Swiss law.
He said in an interview published today Sunday with the Tribune de Geneve newspaper: “The right to property in Switzerland is fundamental and guaranteed by the constitution. It is not possible to confiscate money from a country or individuals from that country in order to transfer it to another country within the framework of the current legislation.”
Parmelin also noted that so far no country, including the United States, has dared to take such a step: “Switzerland is a state of law, and we are obliged to abide by the constitution and current legislation,” he added. .
Earlier, the head of the US Department of Justice working group on the identification and detention of Russian assets subject to US sanctions, Andrew Adams, said that the Washington administration intends to begin transferring part of the seized funds to Ukraine in the near future.
For its part, the Russian embassy in Washington indicated that such a measure would weaken confidence in the US financial system and the security of the dollar’s jurisdiction.
Source: TASS