Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that during a telephone conversation, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a positive signal to the exchange of prisoners, and also wants to allow the movement of goods through the Black Sea.
“Our understanding of an active policy of neutrality is to seize every opportunity for dialogue. Therefore, I called President Putin. He gave a positive signal for the exchange of prisoners. He also wants to allow the movement of goods through the Black Sea,” the chancellor tweeted on Saturday night.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but without his intermediaries and on the terms of dialogue, not ultimatums.
“I am ready to talk with Putin. But only with him. Without any of his intermediaries. And on the terms of dialogue, and not on the terms of ultimatums,” Zelensky said in an interview with the Italian TV channel Rai 1, published on the head of state’s Telegram channel. on Friday.
At the same time, the president noted that the very issue of negotiations with Putin is becoming more complicated day by day.
“Because every day (Russia – IF) small, I would say, towns are occupied, where they live or lived, unfortunately, we state that people lived. Because many of them left their homes. And many people were killed. When we If we de-occupy these places, we see traces of bullying, executions and destruction of infrastructure by the Russian military. And it is precisely because of this that the moments regarding the possibility of negotiations become more complicated,” he said.
Also, according to him, the Ukrainian society itself is not positive about the negotiations between the President of Ukraine and the President of Russia.
Answering the question of what kind of world Ukraine wants, Zelensky replied that it should be Russia’s respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, traditions and people, language and people, society and independence.
“All this was violated by the Russian Federation. It needs to be restored. What does this mean? Withdraw your troops. I’m not saying that we need to return all the loot – but these are not values for us. Values are living people … Please go beyond the borders of our state” he summed up.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, repeated his proposal to upgrade the talks in Istanbul to the level of leaders, the Turkish presidential administration said.
“President Erdogan reiterated his proposal to elevate the Istanbul process, an important stage for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, to the level of leaders,” the Turkish presidential administration said on Twitter on Tuesday.
Emphasizing the importance of ensuring the ceasefire, the effective operation of humanitarian corridors and the safe conduct of the evacuation, Erdogan said that Turkey will continue to make every effort to end the current state of affairs, which is detrimental to everyone, and establish a lasting peace.
“President Erdogan noted that the continuation of the positive momentum achieved in the Istanbul talks to pave the way for peace will benefit everyone,” the message says.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the results of negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, ORF reports citing the Austrian Federal Chancellery.
According to the channel, Nehammer told Zelensky that the meeting was not a “friendly visit.”
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer delivered a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that “this war must stop,” writes the Kronen Zeitung newspaper on Monday, citing Nehammer’s office.
Nehammer himself described the meeting as “very tough”, “very open”, “very direct” – “not a friendly visit”. For him, it was an “obligation”. He wanted to “leave no stone unturned” in order to achieve a cessation of hostilities, or at least humanitarian progress for the suffering civilian population of Ukraine, the newspaper writes. At the same time, she quotes the message of the office, “there is no alternative to the search for a direct dialogue with Russia, despite all the differences.”
Alleged Russian war crimes were also dealt with “in the clearest possible way,” the report said. In addition, the chancellor made it clear that sanctions against Russia will continue and in any case will be tightened as long as people die in Ukraine. “I touched on serious war crimes and stressed that the perpetrators must be held accountable. I also told President Putin in no uncertain terms that as long as people are dying in Ukraine, sanctions against Russia will remain in place and will continue to get tougher,” he said.
The EU is more united than ever on the issue of sanctions, he said. Nehammer will now brief Austria’s European partners on the talks and make recommendations on the next steps. “But my most important message to Putin was that this war must finally end, because in a war there are only losers on both sides,” the newspaper quoted the chancellor as saying.
On Saturday, the Austrian chancellor visited Kyiv and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, suggested that he hold talks in Budapest with his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky, European media reported.
“The answer was yes, but the Russian president says he has certain conditions,” Orban was quoted as saying by the media.
According to them, Orban said that he also invited French President Emmanuel Marcon and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Hungary for talks.
In turn, Bloomberg reported that, in addition, during the conversation, the Hungarian Prime Minister spoke in favor of a ceasefire in Ukraine.
According to Bloomberg, Orban also said that he did not refuse cooperation with Russia in the nuclear field.
In addition, according to Euronews, when asked whether Hungary would pay Russia for gas in rubles, Orban replied that “paying in rubles will not be a problem for us.” “If the Russians want to be paid in rubles, we will pay in rubles,” the Hungarian prime minister said.
