Swiss FM to meet Lavrov next week on spy row

Geneva, Switzerland - Switzerland’s Foreign Minister said on Monday that he will meet his Russian counterpart next week after details emerged of alleged attempts by two Russian spies to hack sensitive Swiss targets.

Swiss officials have confirmed that Russian agents, arrested in the Netherlands earlier this year, launched separate cyber attacks on the Spiez laboratory in Bern and the Lausanne office of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The lab, which does analytical work for the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), was investigating the poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain.

WADA for its part has been a thorn in Moscow’s side for several years over drug cheating in Russian sport.

Switzerland’s top diplomat Ignazio Cassis told public radio broadcaster SRF that he will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov next week to discuss the ‘escalation’ of Russian espionage on Swiss soil.

“Activities by intelligence agencies happen daily, not just by Russia but by other states,” Cassis said.

“But there is now a certain escalation with Russia,” he added.

“We’ve had various bilateral contacts at different levels this year to clearly state that we will not tolerate such activities in Switzerland.”

Cassis also said that Switzerland had in recent weeks denied accreditation to ‘certain Russian diplomats’.

Switzerland, which hosts many high-profile international and sports organisations, has long been considered a hotbed of espionage.