The Austrian foreign minister spoke to Moscow through “informal channels of communication”.
Russia was surprised by the statement by Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) about “informal channels of communication” with Moscow. Moscow has no information about allegedly maintaining informal channels of communication with the Austrian government, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying on Tuesday, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
In an interview with the German daily newspaper “Die Welt” (Monday edition), Schallenberg said yes to the question that Austria maintained informal channels of communication with the Russian government. This is important. “The West must continue talking with Russia.” The US administration does the same. Russia is “the EU’s biggest geographic neighbor and the biggest nuclear power on the planet”. Moscow sits at the table in numerous international organizations and is, for example, a major player in the implementation of global climate and environmental goals.
“We must show a clear advantage in prosecuting Russian war crimes in Ukraine and holding political leadership accountable for war crimes and crimes of aggression,” Schallenberg stressed. “But the West must continue to talk to Russia and must use international forums such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations (UN) to make our positions clear in direct exchanges.”
“Principle of neutrality thrown overboard”
Zakharova said: “We were surprised to learn that Vienna has informal channels of communication with the Russian authorities. We don’t know anything about that.” The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also noted that there were no issues on which Moscow and Vienna could have an informal dialogue. “Austria, which has clearly sided with the West in its hostile policies towards Russia, has given up its hitherto independent role in foreign policy and abandoned the principle of neutrality,” she added.
The spokeswoman also commented on another statement by Schallenberg that if he met his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, he would “shake hands briefly” out of diplomatic etiquette, but with reluctance. “What is his emotional desperation about needing to shake hands with the Russian [Außen-]Minister in a hypothetical possible personal meeting with him, we would like to assure Minister Schallenberg that no one would come to shake his hand,” said Zakharova.
(APA)