President of the Swiss Confederation Didier Burkhalter called Crimea’s joining Russia a violation of international law.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s signing of the agreement on connecting Crimea to Russia should not stop the search for a diplomatic resolution of the crisis, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Chairman stated.   

As per Burkhalter, “It is important to have an open and honest dialogue, and to create links now, more than ever,” Deutsche Welle reported.

The Swiss president stressed that his country does not plan on imposing sanctions against Russia because of Crimea’s annexation.

Didier Burkhalter, however, added that Switzerland will be obligated to impose sanctions against Russia only if the UN adopts these sanctions.