Austria offers Vienna as venue for Zelenskyy-Putin summit

"Our capital has a long tradition as a place of dialogue and offers excellent conditions with the international organizations based here - especially the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe)," the prime minister's statement said.

Commenting on the issue of the arrest warrant for Putin issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the office of the Austrian prime minister stated that "potential question of participation in possible peace negotiations by persons against whom an ICC arrest warrant exists must be clarified in advance in consultations with the court."

"Should the negotiations take place in Vienna, we will contact the ICC due to our headquarters agreements with international organizations in Vienna (...) to enable President Putin's participation," the government noted.

It should be added that Belarus also declared its readiness to host a Zelenskyy-Putin summit.

"Belarus has never aspired to the role of mediator, but if it is necessary for peace in our kin country, we are ready to host any meeting," said the spokeswoman of the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Natalya Eismont.

Zelenskyy-Putin meeting

As is known, after negotiations at the White House on August 18, US President Donald Trump called Putin. After that, the American leader stated that the president was ready to meet with Zelenskyy.

According to Zelenskyy, Russia insisted on a bilateral format, but later a trilateral summit with the participation of the leaders of Ukraine, the United States, and Russia may also take place.

Among the possible locations for the Zelenskyy-Putin meeting are Geneva, Rome, or Hungary. Switzerland has already declared its readiness to host the talks and to grant Putin "immunity" from the ICC.

According to media reports, during the conversation with Trump, Putin proposed holding the meeting in Moscow. Zelenskyy refused this.