Thomas Suessli told Blick it was important, however, "to distinguish between peace-enforcement commitments and peacekeeping commitments.

"Peace-enforcement means peace must be imposed by force of arms. Switzerland does not participate" in that case, he stressed.

"Peacekeeping presupposes Russia and Ukraine agree to cease hostilities and accept the UN sending a peacekeeping force to guarantee peace," Suessli said.

"If we were ordered to participate in a mission, we would develop a training concept to train up our militia members and prepare them for engagement. Then we would begin recruiting and training the military," said Suessli.

He added Switzerland "could probably provide around 200 soldiers in nine to twelve months."

But he explained peacekeeping meant resorting to actual deployment of arms "is only authorised in a situation involving self-defence," citing Kosovo, where Swiss soldiers are serving in a NATO-led force, as an example.

Suessli noted that "the question is what the UN needs" and what parliament would decide and "these are hypothetical questions. There is no peace yet, and there is no request from the UN."