Austria offers to become a platform for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia

At the same time, Nehammer said that the talks should take place "without preconditions and at eye level".

In this way, he reacted on social network X to Russian leader Vladimir Putin's statement about being "open" to talks with Ukraine, but on the basis of the agreements reached in Istanbul in 2022.

Nehammer added that since the headquarters of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is in Vienna, Austria is ready to be a platform for such talks.

'Austria will be ready to support a just and lasting peace based on international law and to serve as the OSCE's seat of negotiations,' the chancellor emphasised."

Nehammer's statement could also have been made against the backdrop of the election race in Austria, where parliamentary elections will be held on 29 September.

What the "Istanbul Accords" were about

After the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, peace talks were held in Belarus and Turkey.

Ukraine was to adhere to "permanent neutrality" - to renounce membership of military alliances, including NATO, to refuse to produce or obtain nuclear weapons, to keep foreign troops out of the country and to keep weapons out. Russia pledged not to attack Ukraine again; if attacked, the guarantor countries were to support it within 3 days. The occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions would partially remain with the Russian Federation. Crimea and the port of Sevastopol were excluded from the security guarantees, which would effectively mean handing over control of the peninsula to Russia.