Putin uses hunger as war tool - Austria's FM

According to APA, Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg addressed the issue after the meeting of foreign ministers of the five Central European nations, dubbed the Central 5 (C5), in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, July 13.

"The minister (Alexander Schallenberg - ed.) criticized the fact that Putin is waging a war with incredible cynicism, using hunger as a weapon. It is necessary to focus on getting grain out of Ukraine in view of the approaching famine," the report says.

Austria’s top diplomat emphasized the importance of preserving the unity of the EU, in particular, in the matter of responding to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. When asked by a Hungarian journalist whether sanctions against Russia prolong the war in Ukraine, the Austrian foreign minister responded with a categorical "no". According to Alexander Schallenberg, there was simply no other alternative and violation of international law was unacceptable. At the same time, the official said that sanctions should weaken Russia, not the European economy.

As APA reports, the key topics of the meeting of the C5 foreign ministers (Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia) were the war in Ukraine, Russia sanctions, migration, and EU unity.