Austrian Chancellor says ready to contact Putin 

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Sunday expressed his readiness to remain in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin if it contributed to a ceasefire in Ukraine, Report informs, citing Urdu Point.

"We are a neutral country, we have a special status in the EU. For this reason, at the beginning of the war, it was important for me to try to play a mediating role in the negotiations. There were two conversations (with Putin), once I visited Kyiv and then Moscow, and then there was another long phone conversation with Putin, which was agreed with the UN Secretary-General. It was about the 'opening' of Odesa, it was a complicated negotiation. If there is a chance, I am ready to do it from now on if it will contribute to peace and a possible ceasefire," Nehammer said, as aired by an ORF2 TV Channel.

Nehammer added that there are currently "complicated grounds" for the negotiations due to Moscow's strikes against Ukraine's energy infrastructure.