Switzerland Rejects Additional $5.6 Bln Aid for Ukraine

The Swiss Senate has voted against providing an additional $5.6 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, along with $11.1 billion for military needs.

According to a statement published on the Swiss Parliament's official website, the Senate, by a majority of 28 to 15 votes, declined the proposal to create a Swiss Fund for European Security and Peace.

The statement clarified that the proposal included an extra 10 billion Swiss francs (about $11.1 billion) for the military through 2030 and 5 billion Swiss francs (around $5.6 billion) specifically for Ukraine.

The government and Senate opposed this, arguing that the expenses for the military and Ukraine were already planned and thus could not be classified as emergency expenditures.

In April, the Swiss government announced plans to allocate $5.5 billion towards the reconstruction of Ukraine by 2036, with $1.66 billion earmarked by 2028.

Despite not being a member of the European Union or NATO, Switzerland has aligned itself with nearly all European sanctions against Russia since February 24, 2022.

Previously, Russia had issued a memorandum to NATO countries regarding the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated that any shipment containing weapons for Ukraine would be considered a legitimate target by Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that NATO countries are "playing with fire" by supplying arms to Ukraine.