Nehammer admits visit to Moscow after tensions between Russia and Ukraine subside

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has said that his possible visit to Moscow or Kiev may take place only after there are signs of a decrease in military activity between Russia and Ukraine. He told the Austrian newspaper Der Standard.

"I think it is quite appropriate (a trip to Russia. - Ed.) as soon as there are signals of decreasing military activity. Before that, diplomatic visits are problematic because they can give the impression of justifying actions," the politician said on November 29.

He added that he last spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin "must have been in 2022."

"At that time I visited him in Moscow, and after that there were several phone calls. <...> There were no more time windows in which it made sense to call," he clarified.

Asked about his proposal to US leader-elect Donald Trump to make Vienna a venue for peace talks, Nehammer confirmed that there was such a proposal. The chancellor added that Austria is "a full member of the European Union (EU), adheres to a Western orientation, but remains neutral and is the seat of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)."

Earlier, on 26 November, the boerse.de website reported that Austria was ready to become a platform for peace talks on the Ukrainian conflict. It was noted that Nehammer during a telephone conversation with Trump recalled the country's long tradition of international dialog. According to the publication, Trump was also interested in Nehammer's impressions from a personal meeting with Russian President Putin.

Before that, on November 20, Bloomberg wrote that Trump may soon hold talks with Putin on the Ukrainian conflict. The agency also suggested that the decision of current US President Joe Biden on the use of long-range weapons by Ukraine could serve as an attempt to spoil Trump's chances of resolving the Ukrainian crisis.

The Russian leader named the conditions for negotiations on Ukraine back in June at a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Thus, the Ukrainian army must leave the territories of the new regions of the Russian Federation, and Kiev needs to abandon the idea of integration into NATO.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.