VIENNA, June 11. /TASS/. Cooperation between Russia and Austria has slowed down because of the sanction but is still at a rather high level, Russian Ambassador to Austria Dmitry Lyubinsky said on Sunday.
"Trade and economic cooperation, although slowed down amid the pressure of the politically motivated sanction, is still significant. According to statistics, Russia is still among Austria’s major trade partners, being sixth in terms of trade," he said in an interview with the Express portal.
However, in his words, political relations with Austria are undergoing a "serious stress test".
"As is known, official Vienna not only joined the West’s destructive policy and supported all sanction packages, but also took an active part in their development. <…> The work of all bilateral; mechanisms and practically all contacts have been frozen by the Austrian side. Today, there is no subject matter for dialogue with Vienna," he stated.
According to Lyubinsky, the Austrian government "is ruining the constructive basis for bilateral relations, which has been built for decades, and is limiting the prospect for their normalization in the foreseeable future.".