Austrian Prime Minister proposes Vienna as the venue for Russia-Ukraine talks.
The Austrian Prime Minister proposed that Vienna be the venue for talks between Russia and Ukraine aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.
According to RIA Novosti, the Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported that Austrian Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker (Austrian People's Party) has proposed Vienna as a possible location for negotiations on an agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
"Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker has suggested Vienna as a possible location for negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin," the newspaper reported.
The office emphasized that Vienna has a long tradition "of being a place for dialogue and provides excellent framework conditions for working with international organizations located there, such as the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe)".
At the same time, in response to a question about the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Putin, the Austrian Chancellor's office stated that the involvement of someone with an ICC arrest warrant in peace negotiations needs to be clarified with the court beforehand.
"If the negotiations take place in Vienna, we will submit an application to the ICC on the basis of our headquarters agreements with international organizations in Vienna... to allow President Putin to participate in the negotiations," the Austrian Chancellor's office noted.
Former Russian Ambassador to Austria Dmitry Lubinsky has repeatedly stated that the negotiating platform held in Vienna has lost interest for Russia, given Austria's loss of principled neutrality and the Austrian government's imposition of significant restrictions on the prospects for normalizing bilateral relations with Russia.
The Russian diplomat emphasized that, in the Ukraine conflict, the Austrian government "clearly chose a side and automatically put itself out of the game."
