Russian Ambassador to Switzerland Sergey Garmonin said in an interview with Sputnik that despite efforts to sabotage Russian-Swiss relations, including by way of US extraterritorial sanctions and anti-Russia media speculations, the bilateral dialogue has remained intact and open for all matters of concern
GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th February, 2020) Russian Ambassador to Switzerland Sergey Garmonin said in an interview with Sputnik that despite efforts to sabotage Russian-Swiss relations, including by way of US extraterritorial sanctions and anti-Russia media speculations, the bilateral dialogue has remained intact and open for all matters of concern.
"Fears of the Swiss of getting hit by the extraterritorial application of US legislation in the form of Washington-spun spiral of sanctions around Russia does not add up to harmonious cooperation between our countries. So far, there have been only scattered instances of local firms refusing to cooperate with companies associated with our country, but the very tendency only causes concerns," Garmonin said.
As Switzerland's second-largest trade partner after the EU, the US is abusing the economic lever to compel certain political behaviors from its European partner, according to Garmonin, who went on to cite the example of Washington pressuring Bern to not invite Chinese telecom giant Huawei to help develop the nation's 5G networks.
With regard to effects on Russian-Swiss relations, he spoke about how Swiss pipeline company Allseas quit Russia's Nord Stream 2 project over fears of being sanctioned by the US. Despite the setback, the ambassador said that Russia continued to value the level of trust it shared with Switzerland.
"Among everything, it means that we are open to having a candid dialogue and substantive discussions with our Swiss colleagues on any matter of their concern. And I assure, such a dialogue is ongoing," Garmonin said.
His comment came in response to another hazard that the ambassador cited as harmful for bilateral relations. In January, just before the annual World Economic Forum was due to begin in Davos, media speculated that two Russian undercover spies with diplomatic passports had visited the Swiss alpine city last summer to collect intelligence about the forum.
"Anti-Russian insinuations of this sort can certainly harm bilateral relations. In this regard, I would like to reiterate that media are responsible for the blaring but baseless accusations they disseminate. The Swiss authorities, just like authorities of any other state, have to react to such disinformation campaigns," Garmonin said, adding that all accusations "fall apart like a house of cards" when the time comes to prove them.
When said media reports came out on January 21, the Russian Embassy in Switzerland denounced them as a hoax meant to undermine Russian-Swiss relations.
The Nord Stream 2 is a joint venture of Russia's Gazprom and five European companies, including France's ENGIE, Austria's OMV, the UK-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, and Germany's Uniper and Wintershall. The 745-mile-long twin pipeline will carry Russian gas to Germany through the territorial waters or exclusive economic zones of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia and Sweden.
In December, the United States imposed sanctions against Nord Stream 2 to target any company or individual involved in providing services on the pipeline, threatening to revoke their US visas and freeze their financial assets in the US.
