The offers from Bern and Belgrade come a week before Donald Trump takes office, who promised during his campaign to end the war in Ukraine “in 24 hours”.
Switzerland and Serbia have both offered to host a possible meeting between the future American president and his Russian counterpart.
Donald Trump, who will take the reins of the White House next Monday, said last week that his team was working to organize a meeting with Vladimir Putin.
The Republican leader hopes to take advantage of the opportunity to keep his promise to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine as soon as possible.
THE arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court against Vladimir Putin – who allegedly supervised the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia – could, however, constitute an obstacle to this potential meeting.
Although Switzerland is legally obliged to arrest the Russian leader if he enters its territory, Nicolas Bideau, head of communications for the country’s foreign affairs department, says that Swiss authorities could grant an exception for peace negotiations.
Aleksandar Vučić says Serbia would be ideal venue for meeting
Meanwhile, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on Sunday that his country would a place “extremely appropriate” for such a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin due to the popularity of the two men in Serbia.
Speaking to Serbian public broadcaster RTS, the president, who presents his country as neutral in the fight between Russia and the West, claimed that Donald Trump has more supporters in Serbia than in any other country outside of the United States.
“No country comes close to Serbia in terms of level of support for President Donald Trump”he says.
“And it’s also a country where President Putin is still very, very popular”adds Aleksandar Vučić, who refused to join international sanctions against Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Serbian president also said his country would be the ideal venue because it is not part of military alliances such as NATO.
End the war in Ukraine “in 24 hours”
America’s next security adviser, Mike Waltz, says “preparations are underway” ahead of a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian president was open to discussions, but did not mention any preliminary preparations.
The format of the meeting, including the possible participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has not yet been decided.
The US president-elect has promised to bring Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table, going so far as to declare that he will end the war within 24 hours of his inauguration, which will take place next Monday.
Ukrainian officials worry that Washington, the country’s main financial backer, will reduce or stop its aid under Donald Trump’s administration.
