“This is not a friendly visit. I have just come from Ukraine and have seen with my own eyes the immeasurable suffering caused by the Russian war of aggression,” Nehammer was quoted as saying in a statement from his office after the meeting outside Moscow.
Nehammer is the first European head of state to meet Putin in person since he invaded Ukraine. His visit divided opinions among EU leaders, with some expressing skepticism about the engagement with the Russian leader.
The couple spoke for about 75 minutes at Putin’s Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow, Nehammer’s spokesman said, in conversations the Austrian leader described him as “very direct, frank and tough”.
Prior to his visit to Russia, Nehammer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and visited the city of Bucha, where the bodies of unarmed civilians were found strewn on public roads after a month of Russian occupation.
“I raised the serious war crimes in Bucha and elsewhere and stressed that all those responsible must be held accountable,” Nehammer said in the statement. “I also told President Putin in no uncertain terms that as long as people are dying in Ukraine, sanctions against Russia will remain in place and continue to be tightened.”
Austria is militarily neutral, but its government has joined its neighbors in condemning Putin’s invasion.
The Chancellor said he raised the issue of evacuation corridors with Putin after repeated attempts to evacuate Ukraine via Russian attacks. Ukrainian officials said dozens of people, including several children, were killed in a Russian attack on the Kramatorsk train station on Friday.
“I have also made it clear to the Russian President that humanitarian corridors are urgently needed to bring drinking water and food to the besieged cities and to bring out women, children and the wounded,” Nehammer said in his statement.
Nehammer cited “a sense of responsibility, leaving no stone unturned” as the reason for looking for a meeting with Putin.
Ahead of their talks, the Lithuanian foreign minister doubted their effectiveness, saying of the Russian leader: “Personally, I have no reason to believe that he is talkative.”
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky also warned Nehammer to be careful. “Don’t be naive. Putin is a perpetrator of this appalling war crime and atrocities and he should be punished for it,” he said.
Nehammer’s statement said the European Union was “more united than ever on this issue”.
Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Sunday it was “extremely difficult” to even think about negotiations with Russia after the atrocities in the city of Bucha and at the Kramatorsk train station.
Putin appointed a new general to oversee his invasion over the weekend, and Russian forces have shifted their focus to eastern Ukraine after failing to capture the capital Kyiv and other areas in the country’s center.