“Austria has given up its independent role”
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Zakharova said: “We were surprised to learn that Vienna maintains informal channels of communication with the Russian authorities. We don’t know anything about it.” The foreign ministry spokeswoman also noted that there were no issues on which Moscow and Vienna could have an informal dialogue. “Austria, which has clearly sided with the West in its hostile policies towards Russia, has given up its hitherto independent role in foreign policy and jettisoned the principle of neutrality,” she added.
