Meeting with Putin, the Austrian Prime Minister is pessimistic about Russia-Ukraine negotiations

“Peace talks always take too long, while military logic says don’t spend too much time and go straight to the battle,” the prime minister said. Shirt Karl Nehammer said during a press conference in Moscow on April 11 after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Describing the Kremlin boss as “entirely in wartime logic”, Mr Nehammer said he was “quite pessimistic” about the prospects for peace in the conflict and that Russia had “very little interest in meeting face-to-face” with Mr. system Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. However, he still has a glimmer of hope that President Putin wants to continue to maintain peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey.

“Putin acknowledged that the sanctions make it difficult for Russia, but said that the situation in Donbass must be resolved despite the sanctions. A personal meeting is needed to tell the Russian President about the reality of the war. is going on and what the European Union thinks about it. It is necessary to continue pursuing this path,” said Mr. Nehammer.

Prime Minister Nehammer also addressed “serious war crimes at Bucha and other locations, emphasizing that those responsible must be brought to justice”. Russia has repeatedly denied that its forces committed war crimes in Ukraine.

Nehammer also told President Putin of the urgent need to establish humanitarian corridors to bring water and food into besieged cities, as well as evacuate women, children and the wounded. He said he would inform his European counterpart about his talks with President Putin and discuss next steps.

The Kremlin has not commented on the meeting between President Putin and Prime Minister Nehammer. Mr. Nehammer was the first European leader to visit Moscow to meet Putin since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine.

Nehammer previously described the meeting at Putin’s residence outside Moscow as “not a friendly visit” but a “direct, open and tough” discussion. The Austrian government proposed holding a closed-door meeting, without a picture of the meeting or a joint statement from the leaders of the two countries.

Prime Minister Nehammer’s meeting with President Putin took place after he traveled to Kiev, Ukraine and held talks with President Zelensky. Austria, a neutral country, provides humanitarian aid to Ukraine, as well as helmets and armor, to civilians, but does not provide weapons to the country. Austria also criticized Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.

Russia on February 24 launched a military operation to “demilitarize and de-fascist Ukraine”. After more than a month of hostilities, Russia withdrew its troops from the area around the capital Kiev and the city of Chernihiv to focus on the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.

Fighting in the southern city of Mariupol is concentrated at the Azovstal steel plant, where between 1,500 and 3,000 nationalist fighters are entrenched. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) leader Denis Pushilin announced that his forces had taken control of the seaport of Mariupol.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says more than 4.5 million people left Ukraine after the outbreak of hostilities, 90% of them women and children because Ukrainian authorities do not allow men. in the age of enlistment to evacuate.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 1,793 civilians have died and 2,439 injured since the outbreak of hostilities, but warned the actual number could be higher.

Nguyen Tien (According to AFP, TASS)