Nehammer believes that despite the explosive situation in Kyiv and Moscow, the door to negotiations is still wide open. At the same time he warns that the energy supply from Russia is not secure.
After talks in Kyiv and Moscow, Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer still sees a small chance of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
“Both are in the logic of war, but both know that it has to end at some point,” said the conservative politician of the German Press Agency and the Austrian news agency APA. Before that, however, an escalation of the fighting in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass is to be feared. “Both sides are preparing for a very intense and, from a human point of view, devastating battle.”
Meetings with Zelenskyy and with Putin
Nehammer met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, becoming the first EU leader to visit Moscow since the Russian attack on Ukraine began. Before that, the Chancellor was in Kyiv on Saturday, where he held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, among others.
Both sides spoke to Nehammer about the negotiation process in Istanbul, where representatives of both warring parties last met at the end of March. True, these positive signals would not stop developments in Donbass. However, they showed that not all doors to a negotiated solution were closed. “The big question will be: How can a face-saving end to the war be possible for both sides,” said Nehammer. His Ukrainian interlocutors had inquired about Austria’s status as a neutral but armed country, he reported. Nehammer stressed that Austria would remain neutral despite the possible rapid accession of the previously non-aligned countries Finland and Sweden to NATO.
In his view, the latest EU sanctions against exports of defense electronics will only weaken Russia’s military clout in the medium term. “That’s why it doesn’t immediately lead to Putin ending the war.” However, Putin is well aware that the war will have serious economic consequences for his country. “‘I know,'” said the Kremlin boss when Nehammer pointed it out to him.
Nehammer: Gas supply not secured
According to Nehammer, Europe’s supply of Russian gas is not secured even apart from sanctions considerations. The consequences of war and the blowing up of pipelines could lead to a delivery stop, he said. “The risk is there anyway that this can still happen – even if Austria, Germany and others oppose a gas embargo,” said the politician.
The two neighboring countries and several eastern EU states are particularly dependent on Russian gas. Nehammer warned that an import ban imposed by the EU would severely damage private households and industrial companies.
In Moscow, Putin raised the issue of gas himself, the Chancellor reported. The Kremlin boss said that the supply was secured, that the agreed quantities would be delivered and that payments could still be made in euros.
Source: Stern
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