The Swiss government announced on Friday that it will prohibit exports to a Polish military equipment supplier. This decision follows the discovery that approximately 645,000 pieces of Swiss-manufactured small-caliber ammunition were sent to Ukraine against Swiss law.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs emphasized that the ban is due to an elevated risk of the ammunition being diverted to Ukraine. Switzerland has always emphasized its stance of neutrality in global matters, and the country’s laws strictly forbid the export of any military equipment produced in Switzerland or owned by Swiss entities to nations engaged in conflicts.

Despite its tradition of neutrality, Switzerland has supported economic sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia in response to the large-scale invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022. An inquiry was initiated by the secretariat following a report last November from U.S.-based news organization Defense One, which revealed that a Ukrainian firm had received the controversial shipment of 645,000 armor-piercing rifle cartridges produced by SwissP Defense and imported by a Polish firm, UMO.

According to SECO, the investigation found that the reseller agreement between the Swiss manufacturer and the Polish company explicitly restricted the resale of the ammunition solely within Poland. Unfortunately, the inquiry established that the Polish supplier did not adhere to these contractual obligations, leading to the ammunition’s illicit arrival in Ukraine.

In response to the situation, SwissP Defence indicated in a communication that it strictly follows legal regulations in Switzerland, though it chose not to disclose details regarding its business relationships. UMO has yet to respond to requests for comment regarding the investigation.

Switzerland has taken steps to protect its image of neutrality amidst the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Last year, the Swiss government asserted that German-made tanks, which it had previously owned and decommissioned, could not be transferred to Ukraine. Nonetheless, Switzerland has been increasingly aligning itself with NATO; earlier this week, the Swiss executive branch greenlit the country’s participation in an upcoming crisis-management exercise organized by the alliance for the following spring.