03:09Russia: Minsk agreement key to sanctions lift, Austria's Fischer tells Putin
Austrian President Heinz Fischer told Russian President Vladimir Putin that resolving the Ukrainian conflict was key to ending sanctions against Russia. Putin welcomed an Austrian delegation led by Fischer for a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday.
Fischer said “everyone who wants relations between Russia and Europe to be good, or is even interested in their improvement, won’t be happy with those sanctions” before adding that despite this, “Austria is a loyal member of the European Union and we want to remain a loyal member,” and that it therefore respects the decisions imposed on Russia. Fischer noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was intimate with the Minsk agreements and their ramifications.
Commenting on Russian-Austrian relations, President Putin stated that "despite the difficulties we have encountered of late, relations between Russia and Austria continue to develop and we attach great importance to these ties." The Russian leader also noted an increase in Russian exports to Austria, despite the aforementioned difficulties having caused a "drop in our trade turnover, a decrease of around 25 percent."
The Austrian president is on a two-day visit, leading a high-ranking delegation from Vienna, including top economic and defence officials. During the visit President Fischer also had time to discuss the upcoming elections to the State Duma with its Chairman Sergei Naryshkin. Earlier in the day he met and discussed sanctions and economic partnership with Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev.
03:09Austrian President Heinz Fischer told Russian President Vladimir Putin that resolving the Ukrainian conflict was key to ending sanctions against Russia. Putin welcomed an Austrian delegation led by Fischer for a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday.
Fischer said “everyone who wants relations between Russia and Europe to be good, or is even interested in their improvement, won’t be happy with those sanctions” before adding that despite this, “Austria is a loyal member of the European Union and we want to remain a loyal member,” and that it therefore respects the decisions imposed on Russia. Fischer noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was intimate with the Minsk agreements and their ramifications.
Commenting on Russian-Austrian relations, President Putin stated that "despite the difficulties we have encountered of late, relations between Russia and Austria continue to develop and we attach great importance to these ties." The Russian leader also noted an increase in Russian exports to Austria, despite the aforementioned difficulties having caused a "drop in our trade turnover, a decrease of around 25 percent."
The Austrian president is on a two-day visit, leading a high-ranking delegation from Vienna, including top economic and defence officials. During the visit President Fischer also had time to discuss the upcoming elections to the State Duma with its Chairman Sergei Naryshkin. Earlier in the day he met and discussed sanctions and economic partnership with Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev.