Moscow calls for moving South Caucasus talks from Switzerland

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Switzerland can no longer host negotiations on the South Caucasus due to its loss of neutrality after joining restrictive measures against Moscow.

Moscow intends to have the negotiation process within the International Discussions on Security and Stability in the South Caucasus moved from Switzerland to another country.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that this was prompted by the unfriendly steps taken by the European country's authorities towards Russia, which effectively signifies a loss of its neutral status.

"Given Switzerland's loss of its professed neutral status due to its joining of the EU's illegal anti-Russian sanctions, Moscow, with the support of Sukhum and Tskhinval, deems it necessary to move the IDST meetings from Geneva to another, truly neutral and acceptable location for all participants," the ministry said.

The next round of talks is scheduled for March 2026.

Geneva became a platform for contacts between Russia and Georgia after the rupture of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Tbilisi in August 2008, following the five-day war and Russia's subsequent recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.