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Austria’s leader says his face-to-face meeting with Putin was ‘not a friendly visit’
“This isn’t a pleasant go to. I’ve simply come from Ukraine and have seen with my very own eyes the immeasurable struggling attributable to the Russian struggle of aggression,” Nehammer was quoted as saying in an announcement issued by his workplace after the assembly exterior Moscow.
Nehammer is the primary European chief to satisfy with Putin face-to-face since his invasion of Ukraine. His go to divided opinion amongst EU leaders, with some expressing skepticism about partaking with the Russian chief.
The pair spoke for about 75 minutes at Putin’s Novo-Ogaryovo residence close to Moscow, Nehammer’s spokesperson stated, in talks the Austrian chief described as “very direct, open and hard.”
”I addressed the intense struggle crimes in Bucha and different locations and emphasised that each one these liable for them should be held accountable,” Nehammer stated, in accordance with the assertion. “I additionally instructed President Putin in no unsure phrases that sanctions in opposition to Russia will stay in place and can proceed to be tightened so long as persons are dying in Ukraine.”
Austria is militarily impartial however its authorities has joined its neighbors in condemning Putin’s invasion.
“I additionally made it clear to the Russian President that there’s an pressing want for humanitarian corridors to convey ingesting water and meals to the besieged cities and to convey out girls, kids and the wounded,” Nehammer stated in his assertion.
Nehammer cited “a way of duty to go away no stone unturned” as a motive for looking for the assembly with Putin, saying: “For me, there is no such thing as a various to looking for direct talks with Russia as nicely, regardless of all of the very nice variations.”
Forward of their talks, Lithuania’s International Minister solid doubt on their effectiveness, saying of the Russian chief: “I personally don’t have any motive to imagine that he is talkable.”
Czech Minister of International Affairs Jan Lipavsky additionally urged Nehammer to be cautious. “Do not be naive. Putin is a perpetrator of this horrendous struggle crime and people atrocities, and he must be punished for that,” he stated.
Nehammer’s assertion stated the European Union was “extra united than ever on this problem.”
Ukraine’s international minister stated on Sunday it might be “extraordinarily tough” to even take into consideration negotiations with Russia following the atrocities dedicated within the city of Bucha and on the practice station in Kramatorsk.