Switzerland has no plans to join REPO task force on basis of neutrality

Switzerland refused a request from the G7 countries to join the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) multilateral task force on April 19.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO) responded to recent criticisms from the G7 countries, saying that there is “no need to formally join the Task Force at present.”

SECO also reiterated that Switzerland has already frozen $8.35 billion of Russian assets.

Switzerland has been criticized by other Western countries since the full-scale invasion started, with several EU nations pressing Switzerland to increase its response both in Ukraine and toward sanctioned Russian entities.

The Swiss authorities have argued that they are constitutionally bound to neutrality, preventing them from sending weapons to active war zones. The Swiss government also said on Feb. 15 that confiscating Russian assets could “violate Switzerland’s international obligations.”

The Swiss government did not completely rule out the possibility of joining the REPO taskforce, but only if future participation was deemed to be in Switzerland’s self-interest.

UK sanctions Medvedchuk’s wife, those with financial links to Russian oligarchs

The U.K. government has announced a new sanctions package targeting Oksana Marchenko, the wife of key Putin ally Victor Medvedchuk, as well as relatives and financial fixers of major Russian oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov.

Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk