Zelenskyy of Ukraine visits Austria for the first time since Russia's full invasion of his country
Vienna (AP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Austria on Monday since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine (2022).
Austria is famously neutral – its position announced in 1955 after World War II – Vienna has received severe criticism since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia drove 138 strikes and bait drones overnight in Ukraine, mainly in the eastern Donetsk region. Of these, 125 were intercepted or blocked, while 10 people reached the target. The other eight people caused debris to drop.
Zelenskyy plans to meet with Austrian President Alexander Van Der Bellen and Prime Minister Christian Stocker, with the two presidents holding a press conference late Monday.
He is the first noticeable visit of foreign nobles after he waited for a new government for a record five months after he was headed by the head of a previously untested tripartite alliance in March.
Zelenskyy's wife Olena Zelenska and Van der Bellen's spouse Doris Schmidauer will also discuss the role of women in promoting peace and security on the journey.
Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany during the advance of World War II and declared neutrality after the war under pressure from Western allies and the Soviet Union. It seeks to be a mediator between the East and the West, establishing connections with Moscow, which continues the Cold War.
The Austrian government condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but also stressed the need to maintain diplomatic relations with Moscow. Vienna has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but has no weapons.
After the war began, former Prime Minister Karl Nehammer was the first EU leader to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Nehammer traveled to Moscow in April 2022 to persuade the Russian leaders to end the invasion without any fun.
