US laments ‘disappointing’ Swiss decision not to fully adopt latest EU sanctions against Russia

GENEVA — The United States is expressing disappointment over a decision by the Swiss government not to adopt all measures in the latest round of European Union sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Amb. Scott Miller, the top U.S. envoy in the Swiss capital, expressed hope that Bern will work to close a “loophole” that allows overseas subsidiaries to get around sanctions, which aim to punish the Russian government over President Vladimir Putin’s all-out war in Ukraine launched in February 2022.

“It is essential we target sanctions circumvention to dent Russia the finances and materiel it needs to continue its brutal war. None of our companies should be complicit,” Miller said in a statement.

The Swiss Federal Council, the executive branch, announced Wednesday it had decided to adopt “most of the measures” included in the latest EU sanctions. While Switzerland isn’t one of the bloc’s 27 member countries, Bern has largely hewed to its sanctions against Russia in a bid to curtail its war machine in Ukraine.

In the statement sent Friday to The Associated Press, Miller said the council’s decision “to not fully adopt all components of the 14th package of sanctions … is disappointing.”

Many developed countries have sought to curtail Russia’s access to Western finance, markets and technology, and shunned or limited imports of Russian goods. The measures have had a limited effect on Russia’s economy, not least because many countries — including major developing nations like China, India, Turkey and Brazil — are still doing a lot of business with Russia.

Meanwhile, some Russian natural gas still flows into the European Union — through Ukraine.

Switzerland said stiffer controls have been enacted in areas such as intellectual property and trade secrets, industrial know-how, messaging services in the financial sector, natural gas and Russian helium exports.

But it stopped short of joining EU restrictions on applications for patents, brands and other intellectual property of companies from Russia, saying “there have been no intellectual property rights violations committed by Russia against Swiss companies.”

The latest EU measures also call on businesses in the bloc to make sure foreign subsidiaries don’t undercut the sanctions. The Swiss say their current sanctions law already allows for prosecution of companies that circumvent sanctions through subsidiaries and as a result, the council “decided not to adopt this EU measure in its current form.”

The government said some 2,250 individuals, companies and organizations in Switzerland are currently on the sanctions list in connection with the situation in Ukraine, and “the list is identical to that of the EU.”