Austrian Foreign Minister deems calls for Ukraine to cede its territory unacceptable

Alexander Schallenberg, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria, has stressed that the calls for Ukraine to cede its territories in exchange for peace with the aggressor state, Russia, are unacceptable.

"Let’s imagine Southern Styria or Burgenland were invaded by a foreign state, and there was an attempt to destroy the federal government of Austria or to drive it away from the country. Then we would be told: ‘Dear Austrians, why don’t you just cede a part of your territory for the sake of peace?..’

I consider such calls to be unacceptable," Schallenberg said in an interview for Ukrinform.

He stressed that it was up to the Ukrainian people to decide when they would be ready for the negotiations.

"After all, there will be talks with Russia. Because we all want peace. But there can be no peace under dictatorship. It’s not peace if it’s imposed by Russia or anyone else without taking Ukraine’s opinion into account. It is unacceptable," Schallenberg stated.

"So such calls coming from the outside are absolutely absurd. A final decision must be made by the Ukrainian people," he stressed.

At the beginning of July, Politico reported that Trump’s team was allegedly seriously considering the option of "a deal with Putin" in order to end the Russo-Ukrainian war, which would mean Ukraine’s and Georgia’s refusal to join NATO and Ukraine’s territorial concessions.

At the end of June, Trump’s advisors presented him with their plan of ending the war in Ukraine. It stipulates that Trump may cut off military aid to Ukraine if it refuses to hold peace talks, while Moscow will be warned that any refusal to negotiate will lead to increased support for Kyiv.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, called this plan "a bad idea".