Austrian chancellor invites Ukraine, Russia to hold peace talks in Vienna

Vienna is ready to host negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Sept. 5.

His proposal came after Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed on Sept. 5 that Moscow "has never refused to negotiate," adding that peace talks with Ukraine should be based on the Istanbul documents.

Kyiv and Moscow held peace talks in Istanbul in 2022, but no results were achieved.

"Any negotiations must take place without preconditions and at eye level. Austria will be ready to support a just and lasting peace based on international law and to serve as venue for negotiations as the seat of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe)," Hehammer wrote on X.

In June, Putin said that, as a condition for peace negotiations, Ukrainian troops must leave Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. He added that Ukraine must recognize Russia's illegal annexation of the regions and abandon any ambition to join NATO.

President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected these conditions, saying that Putin's ultimatum was a "revival of Nazism."

Ukraine said the peace talks should be held on the basis of its 10-step peace formula, which includes a full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. The proposals also call for prosecuting those responsible for war crimes, preventing ecocide in Ukraine, and ensuring energy and food security as well as nuclear safety.

Russia has repeatedly rejected this plan.

Zelensky said that Ukraine, along with most countries, believes that Russia must be present at Ukraine's second peace summit in November in order to end the war. Moscow wasn't invited to the first global peace summit this summer and is skeptical about future participation.

According to a purported draft of a peace treaty between Russia and Ukraine agreed during the Istanbul talks in 2022, both sides agreed to exclude Crimea from the treaty, leaving it under Russian occupation without Ukraine recognizing Russian sovereignty over it, the New York Times reported in June.

The status of Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine was to be decided in later talks between Zelensky and Putin.

However, the draft has not been approved by the Ukrainian and Russian authorities.

Zelensky: Diplomacy ‘not at the expense of 30% of our territory’

Ukraine is committed to peace but not at the expense of giving up its territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a sit down with representatives of the Indian media that was published on Aug. 25.

The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk