Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow tomorrow for talks, as he announced to journalists in Vienna today. Nehammer wants to promote a dialogue between Ukraine and Russia. During the talks, the Chancellor also wants to address Putin to the “war crimes” in Ukraine.
The trip had been agreed with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, wrote the “Krone”. According to the newspaper, Nehammer wanted to act as a “bridge builder” and “try everything to get a little closer to peace,” according to the newspaper from those close to the chancellor. This requires not only telephone calls, but also personal visits.
The German “Bild” newspaper also reported today on Nehammer’s visit to Putin. According to “Bild”, this should be met with criticism in Ukraine. “What overconfidence on the part of the Austrian chancellor that he seriously believes there is any point in traveling now that Putin has shown what a brutal war criminal he is,” the paper quoted a Ukrainian diplomat as saying.
