GENEVA, June 27. /TASS/. Russia believes that the discussions on the South Caucasus held so far in Geneva should be relocated from Switzerland to another country, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, who headed the Russian delegation at the 61st round of discussions held in Geneva on June 25-26, said at a briefing for Russian journalists.
"We raised the question of the need to move the discussions from Geneva to another place more politically acceptable for all participants," Galuzin noted. "This is related to the fact that the Geneva venue is no longer comfortable for Russia and its allies," he explained. The deputy minister recalled that Switzerland, which "used to be famous and rightfully proud of its neutrality, has now completely lost it with regard to Russia, because it has joined almost all the EU sanctions packages," which are "absolutely illegal."
Furthermore, Galuzin continued, Switzerland "hosts international gatherings at which the Kiev regime and its Western patrons are trying to work out an ultimatum to Russia on the basis of the deadlocked and impassable so-called 'Zelensky peace formula.'" The confederation "is actively providing its territory for multilateral gatherings that are completely unacceptable for Russia." "Amid this background, we no longer see this country as an optimal place for holding discussions on the South Caucasus," the diplomat said.
The current round was attended by representatives of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Georgia, Russia and the United States and co-chaired by the UN, the EU and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).