Switzerland, which upholds military neutrality, refused to arm Ukrainian soldiers on Monday despite its alignment with the West in placing sanctions on Russia as a result of the military campaign it launched in Ukraine.
She turned down a German request to send tanks and artillery to Kyiv because, according to a correspondent for Al-Arabiya/Al-Hadath, she was aware that Swiss manufacturers produce the ammunition German tanks use.
Bern upholds the neutrality principle and refrains from supplying combat zones with guns and ammunition, he stressed.
The Swiss government raised concerns about the re-export of produced ammunition for anti-aircraft tanks from Germany to Ukraine in April of last year. She also declined Poland’s offer to buy guns so she could aid her neighbour.
But the Swiss government’s staunch stance since the start of the conflict continues to enrage its European allies, who think that “these shells will be used to safeguard civilians and grain export ships from Ukraine.”
It is interesting because Bern requires foreign nations who purchase weapons to apply for permission to re-export them.
Since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out on February 24, European nations and the United States have given Kyiv weapons and equipment, and Switzerland has vowed to use sanctions as a tool of diplomacy while upholding its decades-long military neutrality, which was bolstered by its participation in the two world wars.
Switzerland declares that we won’t give Ukraine any arms.
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