ZURICH, May 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Russian President Vladimir Putin told him over a telephone call on Friday that Moscow would meet its natural gas delivery commitments and was ready to discuss a prisoner swap with Ukraine.
Nehammer made the comments to reporters after the two leaders held a 45-minute call.
Asked what Putin had told him about gas deliveries, Nehammer said: “He also raised the subject (and said) that all deliveries would be completed in full.”
In a separate statement, the Kremlin said Russia had reaffirmed its commitment to comply with contractual obligations on natural gas supplies to Austria, which gets 80 per cent of its gas from Russia.
Nehammer, who visited Russia last month for talks with Putin, said the Russian leader had expressed readiness to discuss a prisoner swap with Ukraine.
“If he is really ready to negotiate is a complex question,” he added.
Meanwhile, in MOSCOW, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Russia needs huge financial resources for its military operation in Ukraine, putting the amount of budget stimulus for the economy at 8 trillion roubles (US$120 billion).
Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb 24, which prompted the West to impose sanctions against Moscow that have already fanned inflation to near 18 per cent and pushed the country to the brink of recession.
“Money, huge resources are needed for the special operation,” Siluanov said in a lecture at a Moscow financial university.
Putin this week ordered 10 per cent rises in pensions and the minimum wage to cushion Russians from inflation, but denied the economic problems were all linked to what Russia calls “a special military operation” in Ukraine.
The measures would cost the federal budget around 600 billion roubles this year and about 1 trillion roubles in 2023, Siluanov said earlier this week.
On Friday, Siluanov also defended capital controls and asset freezes for foreign investors from “unfriendly” countries that Moscow imposed in response to western sanctions.
“We will keep the investments that were made by foreigners from unfriendly countries in Russia in the same way as they will keep our gold and forex reserves,” Siluanov said, referring to the western move to freeze around US$300 billion worth of Russia’s international reserves it accumulated over years.
Siluanov said restrictions on capital moves for foreign investors could remain in place until either sanctions are lifted or reserves are unfrozen. — NNN-AGENCIES