"Putin told me that the gas supply is safe, that Russia will deliver the contractually agreed quantities and that payments can continue to be made in euros," Nehammer told Austrian APA and German DPA news agencies on Wednesday.
The chancellor also noted that Austria, which still gets 80% of its gas from Russia, opposes an immediate EU gas embargo on Moscow, arguing that it is simply not possible at the moment and would mean that both Austrian industry and households would suffer serious harm, while not having much of an effect on Russia.
"You know, there is a decision in the EU that we must try everything to become independent from Russian gas. And this is also the will of Austria, for sure. But it is not possible now. It will take time," said Nehammer in an interview with CNN after his visit to Moscow.
"Austria stands strong with the other EU member states with the sanctions against the Russian Federation, but sanctions must hurt Russia more than the European Union," he stated.
Earlier this month, Austria's top energy company stated it would be "impossible" to stop buying Russian gas this year, as the country had no access to alternative sources of energy, since neither the US nor Qatar produce enough liquefied natural gas (LNG) to replace Russian imports and there are simply not enough ships and terminals in the EU to accept deliveries of it. The EU currently imports 40-45% of all its natural gas from Russia, which is used for heating as well as for industrial purposes.
On March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that requires payments for Russian gas to be made in rubles starting from April 1. The measure specifically concerns "unfriendly countries" that have imposed economic sanctions on Russia in the wake of the Ukrainian conflict and frozen a large part of Moscow's foreign reserves. The Kremlin has warned that failure to pay for gas would mean that no new deliveries would be made.
Russia has instructed buyers of its fuel in "unfriendly nations" to open euro and ruble accounts in Moscow's Gazprombank. The payments for gas would be delivered to a euro account, after which the bank would exchange them into rubles. Only then would the payment be considered complete.
Many EU states have rejected the scheme, however Hungary has agreed to abide by the new rules.
Austrian chancellor says Hungary, Germany, and others oppose energy embargo
While siding with Ukraine and wanting more sanctions against Moscow, Nehammer said he was not alone in opposing Kiev's demands to halt Russian gas imports.
Comment: The situation is rather ludicrous, whilst Europe openly says it's out to attack Russia and its people in the form of sanctions and the US proxy war in Ukraine, they're also saying that they can't function without Russian energy and that they'd still like deliveries of it in the foreseeable future, if you please.
"Austria is not alone with this argument against the gas embargo," Nehammer told CNN on Wednesday, saying Germany, Hungary "and other member states of the EU" backed his position as well. While Vienna "stands strong" with other EU members when it comes to sanctioning Moscow, "sanctions must hurt Russia more than the EU," he added.
Comment: As it is, the sanctions are damaging the West's economy more than Russia's, moreover, their impact has yet to be truly felt, but they'll reach a tipping point and then Europe really will feel the brunt of their subservience to the US.
The US outlet pressed him about the gas embargo because that was one of the major demands by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Nehammer met with before flying to Moscow to meet with Putin - the first EU leader to do so since February 24, when Russia sent troops into Ukraine.
Comment: Whilst it's clear that Zelensky is merely a puppet, it's notable that leaders across the planet are now at his beck and call, the majority of whom, just a few months ago, were warning that Ukraine was bankrupt and overwhelmingly corrupt.
The negotiations were not a "friendly visit," Nehammer told reporters afterward. There was no joint press conference or mutual statement, or even photos or video materials provided.
Comment: That's likely because Russia and Putin weren't in a placating mood; Nehammer wasn't even invited to the Kremlin. It's likely that any details of the meeting haven't been made public because it would likely be more embarrasing for Austria and Europe than it would be for Russia. That said, it hasn't stopped Nehammer attempting to make more of his visit than it was, declaring that he had "very direct, open and tough" talks with Putin. And, as happened with the Americans, Russia will likely allow Austria to bluff and bluster to maintain its reputation, however should they overstep the line then Russia can make the minutes public.
Pressed by the CNN presenter to offer other Russian things that the EU could sanction in response to Zelensky's demands, Nehammer offered "small electronic parts" he said were used in Russian tanks and drones.
"We should think about sanctions now in a more intelligent way, how we can hurt the Russian Federation but not hurt us," he said. While the EU has made a decision to become independent of Russian gas, "it is not possible now, it will take time," he added.
Comment: There you have it; Russia is expected to do business with people whose stated intention is to hurt them.
EU warns members over Russian gas payments - media
Russia has instructed buyers of its fuel operating in designated "unfriendly nations" to open two accounts in Russia's Gazprombank, one in euro and one in rubles. The payments for gas would go to the euro account, after which the bank would exchange them into rubles. The state-owned Gazprom will consider the payment complete once the rubles arrive.
Moscow and many European governments have disagreed on whether the scheme breaches the terms of the standing gas contracts. The Commission, the EU's executive body, presented its preliminary legal assessment of the proposal to national governments of the bloc, Bloomberg said. The analysis reportedly said the Russian proposal substantially deviated from the terms of the contracts and had other flaws.
Comment: The EU have been the ones to have repeatedly broken the contracts so if Russia wanted to it could consider them void.
"Crucially, the mechanism would be in breach of restrictive measures the EU adopted in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and has applied to the Russian government, its central bank and their proxies," the outlet said. "The process may also have an impact on other bans on various money-market instruments that could be issued by Gazprombank."
Russia has explained that it wants to implement the new payment arrangement because it no longer trusts the euro. This came after Western nations seized Russia's euro-denominated national reserves controlled by Western financial institutions in retaliation for its attack on Ukraine. Moscow called it as an act of robbery.
So far only Hungary has stated that it's prepared to pay for Russian gas in accordance with the proposed scheme. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto outlined that his country didn't believe it violated the EU's sanctions regime.
Moscow said it may eventually cut gas supplies to nations that reject the plan, but said it was in no rush to take action now.
But then, it would sound as if he had achieved nothing in Moscow ... which would be closer to the truth