The face-to-face meeting between Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow “was not a friendly visit,” Nehammer said in a statement released by an Austrian official after the meeting.
“This is not a friendly visit. I have just arrived from Ukraine and have seen with my own eyes the immeasurable suffering caused by the Russian war of aggression,” he said in the statement.
Nehammer, the first European Union leader to meet Putin since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, said the conversation with the Russian leader was “very direct, open and tough”.
The Austrian chancellor added that his most important message to Putin was that the war in Ukraine must end because “in a war there are only losers on both sides”, reiterating that he hoped to help end the war or improve conditions for civilians.
“I addressed the serious war crimes in Bucha and elsewhere and emphasized that everyone responsible for them must be held accountable. I also told President Putin in no uncertain terms that sanctions against Russia will remain in place and will continue to be tightened while people are dying in Ukraine,” Nehammer said.
“I have just arrived from Ukraine and I have seen with my own eyes the immeasurable suffering caused by the Russian war of aggression. The trip to Moscow and the talks with President Putin are a must for me. A duty of a sense of responsibility to leave no stone unturned to bring about a cessation of hostilities or at least humanitarian progress for the suffering civilian population in Ukraine. For me, there is no alternative to seeking direct talks with Russia as well, despite all the very big differences,” Nehammer said in the statement.
“The EU is more united than ever on this issue. I also made it clear to the Russian president that there is an urgent need for humanitarian corridors to bring clean water and food to besieged cities and bring in women, children and the wounded. I will now return to inform our European partners about my conversation with the Russian president and discuss further measures,” he concluded.
Source: CNN Brasil
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