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Switzerland's lower house of parliament has voted against a proposal that explicitly authorizes the transfer of Swiss arms to Ukraine.

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The vote in parliament came as Swiss President Alain Berset met his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the European Political Community summit in Moldova. The two discussed the export of military materials.

The National Council in Bern voted by 98 votes against to 75 in favour of a parliamentary initiative presented by a committee.

Jean-Luc Ador of the populist, right-wing Swiss People's Party — the largest in the National Council — told the Council that "adopting this initiative means engaging with one of the main characters, which is also mentioned in its very title ('Lex Ukraine'). It would therefore be a violation of neutrality.

At the start of the war, Switzerland departed from its traditional neutral stance and accepted European Union sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, but said its neutrality did not allow the provision of weapons in conflict zones.

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In April last year, Switzerland withheld shipments of German weapons to Ukraine, blocking the re-export of Swiss ammunition used in Marder armored fighting vehicles in Ukraine, arguing that such a move would violate its neutrality.

In January this year, the Swiss government also rejected Spain's request to re-export two 35mm anti-aircraft guns.

However, there is growing pressure for Switzerland to reconsider its policies.

Earlier this year, a committee in parliament proposed to lift the ban on re-exports, which prevents munitions produced by the country from being sent from another country to Ukraine. According to the commission, its proposals do not violate Switzerland's neutrality rules, as the weapons would pass through another country and not directly in a conflict zone.

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