Karl Nehmmer, President of Austria, “distrust” after meeting with Putin in Moscow | World | D.W.

Austrian federal president Carl Nehmer said on Monday after a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that he was “pessimistic” about the outcome of the war in Ukraine. Logical war “.

Nehammer said he had confronted Putin over alleged war crimes by Russian troops in Pucha, near Q, but the Russian president responded that it had been “suppressed” by Ukrainian forces.

“For the benefit of the people of Ukraine, it is important for me to make it clear that the war must end and that the crimes that take place must be clarified by international organizations, the UN and international criminal justice,” Nehmar said. A conference in Moscow after the meeting with Putin.

The meeting in Novo-Okaryovo, the Russian presidential residence on the outskirts of Moscow, was Putin’s first meeting with the EU leader since Russia’s occupation of Ukraine on February 24. “The conversation with President Putin was very direct, transparent and difficult,” the head of the Austrian government said of the meeting, which lasted about 75 minutes.

As a general estimate, Nehammer is “distrustful” because the concentration of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, where he is preparing for a major Russian offensive, foretells an “escalation of violence.”

However he acknowledged that their numbers were not enough to defeat Trump’s opposition to the war.

Meeting without pictures or reports from the Kremlin

There was no reaction from the Kremlin in the first hours after the meeting, when he gave two press conferences after meeting with Austrian President Putin. In a face-to-face meeting behind closed doors without assistants, no photos were released – at the request of the Austrian government – and the Kremlin announced that it would not release any report on the conversation in Russian with translators.

“I spoke out about the serious war crimes that took place in Pucha (near Q) and elsewhere, and stressed that those responsible must be held accountable,” the Austrian conservative leader said.

EU foreign ministers on Monday agreed to provide financial assistance and a panel of experts to the International Criminal Court and Ukraine’s lawyers. They are helping to document potential war crimes committed by Russian troops in the country.

Putin “hopes for talks in Istanbul”

While the Russian preparations for a major offensive in eastern Ukraine have given no reason for confidence in these contacts, the head of the Austrian government has promised that Putin will continue the negotiation process in Istanbul.

The Istanbul talks are the only way to make progress in the peace talks, and they have stalled. “In general, I have no positive ideas to bring to you from this conversation with President Putin. A major attack (in eastern Ukraine) is being prepared,” he said.

EU sanctions will continue

“I have made it very clear to President Putin that sanctions against Russia will remain in place until the death of the people in Ukraine,” Nehmar said, adding that the EU was “united as never before.”

The Austrian president stressed the need for humanitarian corridors to bring drinking water and food to the besieged cities in Ukraine and to evacuate women, children and the wounded. “My main message to Putin is that this war must end because there are only losers on both sides in a war,” he said, adding that he would inform his European partners about the meeting.

Nehmar promised that this was not a “friendly trip”, but after seeing “immeasurable suffering” in Ukraine firsthand, he considered it a “duty” to seek a direct meeting with Putin. .

The foreign minister was in Ukraine last Saturday, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky in Kiev and visited several cities near the capital, where there are indications that the Russian military is killing large numbers of civilians.

Austria, as an EU partner, has joined EU sanctions against Russia, although it has not sent arms to Ukraine as a neutral country. In addition, the Central European country, along with Germany and Hungary, refuses to support a European embargo on Russian gas imports, which could be very detrimental to its own economy.

jov (afp, spiegel)