Ignazio Cassis, the president of the Swiss Confederation, announced during a press conference that Switzerland is preparing to introduce financial sanctions on Russia
Switzerland's financial measures aimed to pressure Moscow will compromise three Russian banks and impose travel restrictions on 361 State Duma deputies.
Cassis did not give further details on the targeted banks but said that the country would be toughening the measures already imposed on Russia in 2014 aimed at the crisis in Ukraine.
"For reasons of neutrality, Switzerland did not directly adopt sanctions at that time. Today, the government has sharpened its response … The EU sanctions issued yesterday are to be integrated into this ordinance in the form of anti-circumvention measures, and individual measures will be tightened, particularly in the financial sector," Cassis exposed.
According to the President, the government would adopt these regulations, so Switzerland is not implicated in circumventing sanctions imposed by the European Union.
Under international, Switzerland is only allowed to rule sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council.