Assessments by well-known political scientists on Kremlin-friendly news portals such as life.ru or at the TV station 360°. During his visit, Nehammer probably wanted to talk to Putin regarding possible NATO membership, it says, for example – Russia, as one of the signatory powers of the state treaty, has a say. There was also talk of the capture of NATO trainers in Mariupol, whose extradition Nehammer wanted to achieve. The actual content of the conversation – humanitarian corridors, sanctions, war crimes – remained completely unmentioned.
War crimes – just by whom?
The influential media like Kommersant, Komsomolskaya Pravda and Expenditure were comparatively very reserved. Austria’s role as a neutral mediator was praised there, but criticized across the board for not making a media statement from the Kremlin due to pressure from Vienna. “It is indeed very rare,” it said.
However, the actual content of the conversation was only read there in part. The fact that Austria’s chancellor addressed Putin to the war crimes in Butscha is only in the Kommersant to read – but without the reference to who is said to have committed these atrocities. As is well known, the Kremlin accuses Ukraine of either having committed the crimes itself or only having staged them.
By the way, Putin’s spokesman kept to the agreement to remain silent regarding the content of the conversation. Dmitry Peskov said only one sentence: The meeting lasted “shorter than other comparable conversations”. That speaks for itself.
