MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has told TASS in Russian that she prefers spending time in the village of Petrushovo, Ryazan Region, than on any beach in the Maldives or Seychelles.

Kneissl has been vacationing in the Ryazan Region for several weeks now, following the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in June.

"I like life here. I understand this world. I understood it when I was a young girl. Grandmothers, apples, summer, swimming in the river. It's a good life. I don't need the Maldives or the Seychelles. It's better here," she said when asked about her life deep in the Russian countryside.

Kneissl clarified that the house where she is staying in Petrushovo is not her permanent home.

"I don't live in Petrushovo. It's just that I rented a small house there, a rustic cottage. Now the whole world knows where my house is," the former Austrian foreign minister added.

Kneissl served as Austria's Minister for Europe, Integration and External Relations from 2017 to 2019.