Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, does not currently see signs from Russia “that it would be ready for the diplomatic path”, as he said in an interview with “Presse am Sonntag”.
He would negotiate with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov but would not shake his hand because his “hands are covered in blood”. There is no alternative to Ukraine joining the EU and NATO, as this is the only way to guarantee Europe’s long-term stability.
The battle for the disputed city of Bakhmut was “devastating”, but a withdrawal of the Ukrainian army was not a solution, otherwise “the same nightmare would only advance deeper into Ukrainian territory”, Kuleba said. “We don’t claim more than every square meter of our own territory,” says the Ukrainian chancellor.
Schallenberg’s Critique
Kuleba welcomes the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Russian President Vladimir Putin because the most important message is that Putin is now “not only a political but also a legal defendant”, “by an established institution”.
However, Kuleba criticizes the statements by Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP), according to which Europe cannot completely separate from Russia. If you don’t, it means “that you cannot part with a child-stealing war criminal whose actions are similar to those of the Nazi regime, which kidnapped children from occupied territories with the Lebensborn program”.
Raiffeisen’s involvement in Russia was a mistake, and he believes the bank will regret it. “Any company, regardless of nationality, should leave Russia if they care about their reputation and don’t want to be part of Putin’s criminal regime.”
Spokesperson: 100 million euros given
As part of the European Peace Facility, Austria has provided around €100 million in non-lethal support since the start of Russia’s war of aggression, Schallenberg’s spokeswoman said. Furthermore, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Austria is the largest donor of humanitarian aid to Ukraine in terms of gross domestic product.
Austria also supports the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court with €200,000 and an expert from the Ministry of Justice. According to the spokeswoman, there is also support for a special court to prosecute Russian aggression in Ukraine.