Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday and reported little good news.
Nehammer, the first European Union leader to meet with Putin since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, described the meeting as “not a friendly visit,” according to a statement from an Austrian official, CNN reported. The Russia visit came after Nehammer visited Ukraine, where he saw “the immeasurable suffering caused by the Russian war of aggression.”
Nehammer’s trip to Russia was “a duty out 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,” the statement continued.
While in Ukraine, Nehammer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and visited the town of Bucha, near Kyiv, where alleged war crimes had been committed. A mass grave filled with hundreds of bodies was discovered in the suburb, while other civilians were found shot and killed with their wrists bound behind them.
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”I addressed the serious war crimes in Bucha and other places and emphasized that all those responsible for them must be held accountable,” he explained. “I also told President Putin in no uncertain terms that sanctions against Russia will remain in place and will continue to be tightened as long as people are dying in Ukraine.”
Through the first month and a half of the military operation, Russia has failed to achieve most of its goals. It initially sought to conquer Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, but it was unsuccessful after facing more significant resistance and self-induced problems. Russia has since redirected its attention to the contested eastern part of Ukraine.
Russian forces have been accused of committing war crimes through indiscriminate attacks against civilians and soldiers.
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The United Nations has recorded roughly 1,842 fatalities and nearly 2,500 injured, though it warned that the death toll is likely “considerably higher,” considering the difficulty of wartime casualty tallying. Zelensky estimated on Monday that “tens of thousands” of residents of Mariupol, a key port city in the south, have been killed as the city faces relentless attacks.
