3 58 ms 58 ms 43 ms 217-168-58-101.static.cablecom.ch[217.168.58.101] 4 139 ms 140 ms 145 ms 84.116.211.22 I'd say here's where the problem begins and it still UPC network I think.
sorry - no - as the handover takes part in washington you have twice the atlantic in between... it´s a problem of peering/transiting in usa and not a upc internal problem in ch.
it is the responsibility of the first network handing over in europe on the way "up" and it is the responsibility of the second network handing over also in europe on the way "down". (zurich, amsterdam or london would be suited in this case)
as this is not the the case here you should tell them to fix that, or choose another provider who does good ip housekeeping.
bernd