Austrian Chancellor said Carl Nehamerthe first European leader to receive him Vladimir Putin since start Invasion of UkraineOn Monday, he was “pessimistic” regarding the “logic of war” espoused by the Russian president.
“If you ask me now if I’m an optimist or a pessimist, I tend to be pessimistic,” Nehamer told reporters following the meeting. “We should have no illusions,” he added. “President Putin has largely entered into a logic of war and is acting accordingly” in the hope of achieving “quick military success.”
According to the Austrian chancellor, “there is not much interest from the Russian side in a direct meeting” with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
But Putin “reiterated his confidence” in Russian-Ukrainian talks hosted by Turkey and whose last session was held on March 29 in Istanbul.
Nehamer defended his meeting with Putin “face to face” in Russia, stressing “the importance of having personal communication to confront the president with the facts of the war, and to convey the Europeans’ point of view directly.”
In a previous statement, he described the discussion that lasted for more than an hour with Putin as “frank, open and difficult.”
The Austrian chancellor said: “I spoke of war crimes gross in Bucha and other areas, and I said that all those responsible must be brought to justice.”
human corridors
And Bucha became a suburb Kyiv A symbol of atrocities, Nehamer visited it over the weekend, along with other Western officials. Moscow has strongly denied any violations once morest civilians in Ukraine.
“I made it clear to the Russian president the urgent need to establish humanitarian corridors to transport water and food, and to evacuate women, children and the wounded from the besieged cities,” the advisor stressed.
The meeting was held at the residence of the Russian President in Novo-Ogaryovo, near Moscow.
No photo was published from the meeting, during which the two leaders did not shake hands, according to the Austrian press. According to the spokesperson Kremlin Dmitry Peskov, the meeting took place behind closed doors at the request of the Austrian side.
Nehamer confirmed that he was “informed”, especially his German counterpart Olaf Schultz The content of the discussion.
The conservative Austrian chancellor visited Moscow on his own initiative following his visit to Ukraine. His Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said earlier on Monday that he was not making the visit “with a European mandate”.
His visit was decided following talks he held in Kyiv on Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and discussions that took place between him and both Shultz and the Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoganIn addition to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Council Charles Michel.
(France Brush)
