Switzerland’s president says his country, which is traditionally neutral, will adopt all of the sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia.

“This is a big step for Switzerland”, - Ignazio Cassis told a news conference after the Alpine nation had for days hesitated over whether to join with Western powers and move to economically punish Moscow for its assault on Ukraine.

Finance Minister Ueli Maurer told reporters that the holdings of those figuring on Brussels’ blacklist, including President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had been “frozen with immediate effect”.