Ukraine's Zelenskyy visits Austria for first time since Russia's invasion

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is visiting Austria successful his archetypal travel to the European Union subordinate state since Russia's full-scale penetration of his state successful 2022

VIENNA -- VIENNA (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is visiting Austria connected Monday successful his archetypal travel to the European Union subordinate state since Russia's full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful 2022.

Austria is famously neutral — a stance it declared successful 1955 aft World War II — and Vienna has travel nether dense disapproval since the commencement of the Russia-Ukraine warfare for maintaining ties with Moscow.

Ukraine’s aerial unit said Russia fired 138 onslaught and decoy drones astatine Ukraine overnight, chiefly astatine the eastbound Donetsk region. Of those, 125 were either intercepted oregon jammed, portion 10 reached their targets. Eight others caused harm arsenic falling debris.

Zelenskyy was scheduled to conscionable with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Christian Stocker, and the 2 presidents were acceptable to clasp a quality league aboriginal Monday.

This is Stocker’s archetypal high-profile sojourn from a overseas dignitary since helium took bureau successful March astatine the caput of a antecedently untried three-party conjugation aft a grounds five-month hold for a caller administration.

Zelenskyy’s wife, First Lady Olena Zelenska, and Doris Schmidauer, Van der Bellen’s spouse, volition besides big a treatment astir the relation of women successful promoting bid and information during the trip.

Austria, which was annexed by Nazi Germany successful the run-up to World War II, declared neutrality aft the warfare nether unit from Western allies and the Soviet Union. It sought a relation arsenic a mediator betwixt East and West, processing ties with Moscow that outlasted the Cold War.

The Austrian authorities has condemned Russia’s penetration of Ukraine but besides stressed the request to support diplomatic relations with Moscow. Vienna has sent humanitarian assistance to Ukraine but nary weapons.

Former Chancellor Karl Nehammer was the archetypal EU person to conscionable Russian President Vladimir Putin face-to-face aft the warfare started. Nehammer traveled to Moscow successful April 2022 successful a fruitless effort to transportation the Russian person to extremity the invasion.

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