Austria sees Russian aggressive policy and violations of international law by Moscow, but believes that it is necessary to keep channels for dialogue open.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said this in his address to the European Parliament on Tuesday on the occasion of the Austrian presidency in the EU, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"We see Russian aggression, we see sanctions, we see violations of international law. But it is still important to keep the channels for dialogue open [with Russia]," Kurz said.

On July 1, 2018, Austria took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the third time after 1998 and 2006. The motto of the presidency is "A Europe that protects".

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko expressed hope for the inviolability of EU’s unity and solidarity with Ukraine in order to counter the ongoing aggression of Kremlin and to defend European values.

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