Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the first EU leader to meet in person with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the start of the war in Ukraine, said the Russian leader has agreed to take part in an investigation into war crimes allegations against the Russian military.
Last week Nehammer traveled to Moscow to meet with Putin after meeting with Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
“He told me that on the one hand he was going to cooperate with an international investigation, and on the other hand he told me that he didn’t trust the western world,” Nehammer told NBC’s Meet the Press host Chuck Todd on Sunday. adding that “it wasn’t a friendly conversation.”
After pictures of dead civilians lining the streets of the Ukrainian city of Bucha were released, numerous governments called for an investigation into alleged war crimes by the Russian military. Russia has denied any war crimes and even accused the Ukrainian government of staging the images.
“I think international justice, the United Nations, an international investigation is necessary. So it was a tough discussion between us, but I tried to convince him that, for example, the former Yugoslav wars showed us that international investigations are useful to prosecute the war criminals,” Nehammer added.
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Todd noted that Nehammer appeared to have left his meeting with Putin somewhat pessimistically and asked what led up to it.
“We can all see that a mighty battle is being prepared in the Donbass region. The Ukrainian side is prepared for this, the Russians are preparing for this, and we will see a lot of loss of life there. For that reason, I’m pessimistic,” said Nehammer.
However, Nehammer noted that both Zelenskyy and Putin mentioned the ongoing peace talks in Istanbul, saying there was “a small chance for peace” there.