After two Britons and a Moroccan were handed death sentences by a court in the self-proclaimed, Russian-backed People’s Republic of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Schallenberg condemned the ruling: "These are prisoners of war [...] an exchange of prisoners of war is what is needed.
These kinds of show trials are exactly the contrary and are utterly unacceptable." The Austrian foreign minister went on to underline the need for EU unity after a laborious period of negotiations before the bloc agreed on its latest package of sanctions: "We have to be aware that Moscow, Beijing and others are observing us.
We are great in Europe at showing our divisions, and in this case unity is the key word and we have to show this unity faced with this aggression." Schallenberg also defended Austria's continued diplomatic efforts with Russia and went on to admit that his country had been "naïve" regarding Russia in the past.
Finally, asked about Ukraine's ambitions to join the European Union, the minister called for the EU to "think harder about how to make Ukraine part of the European family".