Austrian Chancellor: Putin snubs Vienna talks idea over “our principled position”

This was stated by Austrian Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker in an address to the National Council, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Austria has offered itself as a platform for peace talks. As far as I know, the Russian Federation under President Putin is quite skeptical about the proposal, because they are unwilling to realize that, even if we can distinguish between the victim and the perpetrator and know who the aggressor is in this war, this doesn’t mean we should be considered a hostile venue for negotiations," he said.

In his speech, the head of the Austrian government emphasized that "Russia has launched a brutal war of aggression against a free country on our continent, violating international law."

Stocker emphasized that Austria will continue insisting that distorting the roles of victim and aggressor is unacceptable, while peace must be just and lasting. He also emphasized that no one wants peace more than Ukraine.

"We are ready to offer ourselves as a venue for negotiations at any time and support everything that will lead to such an outcome. We adhere to the position that Ukraine must be at the negotiating table, and Europe must also play a role, because I believe that the European Union and Europe can make a significant contribution to the process," the Austrian Chancellor added.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Austrian Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker previously stated that Putin's current Russia was neither a friend nor a partner, but instead a threat to all of Europe and beyond.