Putin hosts Austrian chancellor for talks on Ukraine and sanctions
Russian President Vladimir Putin today received Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the first Western leader to visit the country since the start of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
The meeting is taking place in Novo-Ogariovo, the presidential residence on the outskirts of Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Nehammer acknowledged that the trip, which he considered "a risky mission", is his own initiative, of which he informed both the European Union (EU) and the Ukrainian president, Volodymir Zelenski, whom he met on Saturday in Kiev. "We have to do everything we can to help the people in Ukraine to stop the war," Nehammer said.
For its part, the European Commission said today that, "in principle, for us any effort to try to bring peace in Ukraine is useful. We are in favour of trying to bring peace to Ukraine in any way imaginable," according to Commission spokesperson Dana Spinant.
Nehammer said during his visit to Ukraine that Vienna would support the tightening of sanctions "in the framework of the EU as long as the war does not stop" and warned Moscow that the fifth package "will not be the last".
He also called for an investigation into "war crimes" allegedly committed by Russian troops in Ukraine, although he denied supplying arms due to the neutrality of Austria, which does not belong to NATO.
He also refused, like Germany and Hungary, to support sanctions on Russian gas imports, arguing that such a move would be highly damaging to the national economy.
On Friday, Zelenski met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell, who visited Kiev and its region.
