Swiss right-wing leader calls Ukraine summit an 'embarrassment'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on his way during the Summit on peace in Ukraine, in Stansstad near Lucerne, Switzerland, June 16, 2024. MICHAEL BUHOLZER/Pool via REUTERS

BUERGENSTOCK (Reuters) - A leading Swiss right-wing nationalist panned a summit his country was hosting in a bid to pressure Russia to end its war on Ukraine as an "embarrassment", reflecting the view that the talks are damaging for Switzerland's traditional neutrality.

The right-wing Swiss Peoples' Party (SVP), the biggest group in the lower house of parliament, says neutrality is an integral part of Switzerland's prosperity, and it has initiated a referendum to embed the principle in the constitution.