Putin suggests Vienna as host in event of Ukraine peace talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested in a telephone call with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann that Vienna could host possible peace talks to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, Faymann's office said on Friday.          

The idea came up in a 20-minute call on Thursday in which the leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine and European Union efforts to resolve a conflict involving a pro-Moscow separatist movement there, the Oesterreich and Heute newspapers reported.      

In an interview with Oesterreich, Faymann was quoted as saying the two men had moved a step closer.         

"It looks better now than it did the last time I spoke with him, but we are not yet at the finish line. He praised neutral Austria's active peace efforts and sees Vienna as a good place to hold potential peace talks with Ukraine," he said.       

Faymann's spokeswoman confirmed the reports.       

Austria has walked a careful line between solidarity with its European Union peers on using sanctions to punish Russia for its alleged role in fomenting the revolt in Ukraine and keeping lines of communication open with Moscow.        

Faymann's government has taken a harder line on Russia's suspected role, but much of Austria's commercial community remains firmly on the side of business as usual with Moscow.        

Putin visited Austria in June, getting a warm welcome from the country's business elite despite the frosty EU ties to Russia.

US PROMISES $1 BLN

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a tweet on Friday that the United States had promised $1 billion in financial guarantees for Kiev to raise funds on the capital markets.        

"Agreed with @BarackObama that Ukraine will receive $1 billion in financial guarantees," he said after visiting Washington where he secured $53 million in assistance but failed to win the argument for the United States to provide Ukraine weapons to fight pro-Russian separatists in its east.       

In the first half of this year, Ukraine borrowed $1 billion on capital markets under a similar U.S. guarantee.     

UKRAINE GAS TALKS

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Russia, Ukraine and the European Union had preliminarily agreed to hold new talks on resolving a gas-pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine on Sept. 26, Russian news agencies reported on Friday.       

"We are preliminarily discussing three-party talks for Sept. 26," Novak told journalists in Sochi, Itar-Tass news agency reported. Novak said Russia, Ukraine and the European Union were happy with the date, according to Interfax.