MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. Switzerland can no longer claim the role of a mediator in the Ukraine crisis after joining the anti-Russia sanctions, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis earlier stated that Switzerland was ready at any time to organize a meeting between the parties concerned to discuss peaceful settlement in Ukraine.

"Switzerland that has joined the West’s illegitimate unilateral anti-Russia sanctions is no longer a neutral state in our understanding and cannot claim any mediator role in the context of settling the Ukraine crisis, including the provision of its venue," the diplomat said in a reply posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website on Saturday in response to a media question about Cassis’ statements.

As the Russian diplomat recalled, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky legislatively banned negotiations with Russia.

Cassis also earlier said that talks on the Ukraine situation were underway in Geneva. He said that the city was hosting the negotiations in the atmosphere of "maximum circumspection," although they were presently being held "not at the highest level." Cassis gave no other details.