The Austrian Federal Chancellor, Karl Nehammer, said Monday that he is “pessimistic” about the evolution of the war in Ukraine after his face-to-face meeting in Moscow with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, whom he saw “immersed in a logical war”.
Nehammer said he confronted Putin about war crimes attributed to Russian troops in Bucha, near kyiv, although the Russian president replied that it was all “a staged” by Ukrainian forces.
“For me it was important to make it clear that the war must end, for the good of the people of Ukraine, and that the crimes that are occurring must be clarified by international organizations, the UN and international criminal justice,” Nehammer said at a conference. in Moscow after the meeting with Putin.
The meeting in Novo-Ogariovo, a Russian presidential residence on the outskirts of Moscow, was Putin’s first in-person meeting with a European Union leader since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24. “The conversation with President Putin was very direct, frank and tough,” said the Austrian head of government about a meeting that lasted about 75 minutes.
As a general assessment, Nehammer was “pessimistic” because the accumulation of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, where the preparation of a major Russian offensive, heralds an “escalation of violence.”
Still, Nehammer considered it important to have this kind of face-to-face meeting with Putin to confront him with the consequences of the war and speak frankly about the destruction and pain caused.
Meeting without images or communiqués from the Kremlin
While the Austrian president offered two press conferences after meeting Putin, in the first hours after the meeting there was no reaction from the Kremlin. Of the face-to-face meeting behind closed doors without assistants, no photographs were released – at the request of the Austrian government – and the Kremlin announced that it would not publish any statement about the conversation, which took place in Russian with translators.
“I addressed the serious war crimes committed in Bucha (near kyiv) and elsewhere, and stressed that those responsible must be held accountable,” the Austrian conservative leader said.
EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to provide financial assistance and a team of experts to the Prosecutors of the International Criminal Court and of Ukraine to help them document possible war crimes committed by Russian troops in that country.
Putin “remains confident in talks in Istanbul”
The head of the Austrian government assured that Putin continues to trust the negotiating process in Istanbul, although the Russian preparations for a major offensive in eastern Ukraine do not offer any reason for optimism for these contacts.
The Istanbul talks, Nehammer said, are the only format that currently exists to make progress in the peace negotiations, which remain stalled. “In general, I do not have any optimistic impressions that I can bring to you from this conversation with President Putin. A major offensive (in eastern Ukraine) is being prepared,” the head of government said.
EU sanctions will remain in place
“I also told President Putin very clearly that the sanctions against Russia will remain in place and will get tougher as long as people are dying in Ukraine,” Nehammer added, stressing that the EU is in this “united like never before.”
The Austrian president insisted on the need for humanitarian corridors to bring drinking water and food to besieged cities in Ukraine, and evacuate women, children and the wounded. “My main message to Putin was that this war must end, because in a war there are only losers on both sides,” added the conservative, who explained that he will inform his European partners about the meeting.
Nehammer assured that it was not a “friendly visit”, but considered “an obligation” to try to seek a direct meeting with Putin “despite the enormous differences”, after having seen first-hand in Ukraine “the immeasurable suffering” of the population.
The foreign minister was last Saturday in Ukraine, where he met in kyiv with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and visited several towns near the capital where there are indications that the Russian Army killed a large number of civilians.
Austria, as an EU partner, has joined the EU sanctions against Russia, although it has not sent weapons to Ukraine due to its status as a neutral country. In addition, the Central European country refuses, along with Germany and Hungary, to support a European embargo against Russian gas imports on the grounds that such a measure would be very detrimental to its own economy.
jov (afp, spiegel)