December 4, 2025 UPDATE (1)
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 04.12.2025, 15:47
Romanian-Austrian bilateral talks
Romania wants to consolidate bilateral relations with Austria in the economic and energy sectors, Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said during an official visit to Vienna. The Prime Minister was received with military honors at the Federal Government headquarters in Vienna by Chancellor Christian Stocker.
Austria is one of our country’s most important economic partners and, at the same time, the third foreign investor in the Romanian market, Bolojan said. According to the Romanian official, cooperation in the economic sector will also target other areas that would allow for an increase in investments in both markets, Bolojan said. The value of Romanian-Austrian trade in goods exceeded €5.30 billion last year, and according to data provided by the National Trade Registry Office, there are over 8,600 commercial companies with Austrian participation in share capital operating in Romania.
Ukraine peace talks
Russia will secure control over Donbas and Novorossiya either by force or following the withdrawal of the Ukrainian army, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. The reaction comes after he discussed in Moscow with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and the American president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, about the peace plan proposed by the American side. Putin described the meeting with the two as “useful”, but his demands suggest he is not willing to make any concessions.
The so-called Novorossiya includes all of southern Ukraine, up to the border with Romania and the Republic of Moldova, and the territory was first claimed by Putin in 2014, shortly after the invasion of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Putin also spoke about Novorossiya in a 2022 essay in which he denied the existence of a Ukrainian nation, and three days before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In recent years, however, Russia’s territorial claims have been limited to Crimea and four illegally annexed Ukrainian regions, two in Donbas and two in the south of the country.
The Kremlin also wants Ukraine to reduce its army and renounce its aspirations to join NATO, which Kyiv and its European allies have deemed unacceptable. After the talks in Moscow, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are today expected to meet in the US state of Florida with representatives of Ukraine. (VP)
