MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Switzerland is not a viable platform for negotiations on Ukraine as it has turned openly hostile towards Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with radio stations Sputnik, Govorit Moskva (Moscow Speaking) and Komsomolskaya Pravda.

"Removing the Ukraine situation from the equation, Switzerland simply does not suit us. It is not a neutral party, it has turned from neutral to openly hostile," Lavrov said.

The Foreign Minister pointed to the fact that Switzerland is on board with all Western sanctions, and also approved a new national security strategy stipulating that it "build a security partnership not with Russia, but against Russia." "Therefore, it is a bit strange how they are opening their doors so hospitably, thinking that they can still play some kind of mediating role," Lavrov noted.

Earlier, Swiss President Viola Amherd announced that the country would hold a conference on the so-called Ukrainian peace formula in June this year in Burgenstock. The Russian diplomatic mission confirmed that "the Swiss authorities did not send Russia an invitation to the conference in Burgenstock." As the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov noted, negotiations on Ukraine without Russia are meaningless and, in fact, are "a process in vain."