Austria walks fine line over granting visas to Russian MPs

(ANSA-AFP) - VIENNA, FEB 22 - In their first trip to the EU since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Russian MPs are due at an international meeting in Austria on Thursday despite sanctions and a planned boycott by Kyiv. EU member Austria said it would not bar the Russian delegation from a meeting in Vienna by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, citing its legal obligation as host to the OSCE seat. But Ukraine and European Union member Lithuania have said they would boycott the meeting over the participation of the Russian delegation headed by Pyotr Tolstoy, deputy chairman of the Russian parliament's lower house, who is under international sanctions. "They (Russians) are not interested in discussion, dialogue. They are coming only for propaganda," Ukraine delegation head Mykyta Poturaiev told reporters in Vienna on Wednesday. "It is unacceptable to have in common meetings people who are responsible, who voted for this war," he added. Ukraine was joined by 19 other countries to protest the Russian parliamentarians' attendance in a letter sent to the Austrian government at the beginning of February. (ANSA-AFP).

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