Austrian Chancellor Karl Nechamer held “very direct, open and difficult” talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin near Moscow on Monday, in Putin’s first meeting with an EU leader since the invasion of Ukraine began more than six weeks ago.
Neutral Austria, which receives 80 percent of its natural gas from Russia, generally has closer ties with Moscow than much of the European Union, but this has not been the case recently.
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Nehamer expressed solidarity with Ukraine and condemned blatant Russian war crimes as his government joined other EU countries in expelling Russian diplomats, albeit only a small part of Russia’s large diplomatic presence there.
“This is not a friendly visit,” Nehamer was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office shortly after the meeting at Putin’s official residence in Novo-Ogaryovo near Moscow. A Nehammer spokesman said the meeting lasted 75 minutes, which is relatively short by Putin’s standards.
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Nehamer reiterated previous comments that he had hoped to help end the conflict or improve the besieged civilian population of Ukraine, such as humanitarian corridors. He did not say much about Putin’s response.
“The conversation with President Putin was very direct, open and difficult,” Nehamer said in a statement.
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Visibly excited by telephone conversations with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Nehamer visited Ukraine on Saturday to show support for Kyiv. He said he believed meeting with Putin was his duty “not to leave a stone unturned” in the search for an end to the conflict or humanitarian improvements.
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“My most important message to Putin was that this war must finally end, because there are only losers in the war on both sides,” he said in a statement.
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Speaking at a news conference Monday night, Nehamer said it was important to tell Putin one-on-one that his views were not shared by other countries and that the longer the war lasted, the tougher Western sanctions on Russia would become.
“(Tell him) once will not be enough. Ten times will not be enough. “It may have to be done 100 times, but I think everything needs to be done to ensure that there is peace again and that the people of Ukraine can live in safety,” Nehamer said.
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While German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he welcomed Nehamer’s meeting with Putin, reactions at home included surprise, skepticism and even outright condemnation.
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“Let’s hope that the visit of Austrian Chancellor # Nehamer to Putin has more than has been said and seems. Austria has all too often been a useful idiot for Moscow in the past, “Reinhard Heinisch, a professor of comparative Austrian politics at the University of Salzburg, said on Twitter.
Conservative Nehamer’s coalition partner, the Left Greens, has gone even further, criticizing the visit.
“I cannot approve of Putin’s visit,” Green Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Eva Ernst-Djidjic wrote on Twitter. “This has nothing to do with diplomacy. This is also not an agreed roadmap for negotiations. Putin will use this for his propaganda. “
(Report by Francois Murphy; edited by Hugh Lawson and Grant McCool)
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