Austria rebuffs Putin's call for sanctions to be lifted

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Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Tuesday at a joint press conference with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin that the situation in eastern Ukraine should be improved before the sanctions on Russia could be lifted.

At another joint press conference with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, the Russian president called for the lifting of the sanctions on his country, saying the sanctions are harmful for everyone, especially for those who initiated them.

"These actions are harmful for everyone, both for those who initiate them and for those against whom they are directed," Putin said. "I therefore think everyone has an interest in canceling them."

Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen and Russia's President Vladimir Putin review the honour guard in Vienna, Austria, June 5, 2018. /Reuters Photo

Putin, re-elected last March to a fourth overall term in office, visited Austria on Tuesday in his first trip to the West since being re-elected to the Kremlin. His last bilateral trip to Western Europe was to Finland last July.

And Kurz, who is in coalition with right-wing party FPO, is seen as more pro-Russia compared with the previous one. FPO's head called during the weekend for an end to EU sanctions on Russia.

Austria was criticized by its allies for being among the minority of EU member countries that did not expel any Russian diplomats over the poisoning of the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

But Kurz repeated that Vienna would not break ranks with the rest of the bloc, which says the situation in eastern Ukraine must improve before sanctions can be lifted.

"We hope that through more intensive dialogue, there will be progress in the relations between the EU and Russia," Kurz told reporters. "In particular, we hope that there is progress in eastern Ukraine to ... lift the sanctions step by step."

Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz meets Russian President Vladimir Putin (not seen) in Vienna, Austria, June 5, 2018. /VCG Photo

Kurz said diplomatic progress in eastern Ukraine, followed by a gradual easing of sanctions, was the scenario the country is wishing for.

Putin's visit is part of celebrations marking 50 years since energy firms OMV and Gazprom first signed a gas supply deal. They signed a fresh accord on Tuesday extending their agreement until 2040.

Austria, which takes over the EU's rotating presidency in July, says it wants to act as a "bridge-builder" between East and West.

The US, EU and other Western states imposed sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis in 2014.

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Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency