Austrian Chancellor meets Zelenskyy in Kyiv; expects more EU sanctions against Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday met Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer to discuss tightening sanctions against Russia in wake of a missile strike at a crowded train station, killing at least 52 people. The Austrian Chancellor met Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Nehammer said that he expects more European Union sanctions against Moscow but is defending his country’s opposition so far to cut off deliveries of Russian gas. Addressing a news conference, he said, "we will continue to ratchet up sanctions inside the European Union until the war stops” and that a package of sanctions imposed this week "won’t be the last one."

He underlined that “as long as people are dying, every sanction is still insufficient.” Austria, which is dependent on Russian oil, is one of the nations that have been resisting a halt to deliveries.  Questioned about that, Nehammer said that European Union sanctions are becoming increasingly “accurate” but that “sanctions are effective when they hit those they are directed against and don’t weaken those imposing sanctions against the one who is conducting war.”

Ukraine seeks tough reply after missile kills 52 at station

President Zelenskyy has demanded a tough global response after a missile struck a railway station packed with civilians trying to flee the Russian offensive, killing at least 52 people. Zelenskyy said that the strike on the Kramatorsk train station in eastern Ukraine amounted to another war crime. "All world efforts will be directed to establish every minute of who did what, who gave what orders, where the missile came from, who transported it, who gave the command, and how this strike was agreed,” the president said. 

Meanwhile, Russia has denied a role in the strike and accused Kyiv of firing the missile as a false flag operation as Moscow would be blamed for civilian slayings.  After failing to occupy the capital Kyiv, Russian troops have shifted focus to Donbas where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian troops for eight years and control some of the areas. While the Kramatorsk train station is in Ukrainian government-controlled territory in the Donbas, the rebels, who work closely with Russian forces, blamed Ukraine for the attack.