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Austrian leader Karl Nehammer says Putin in 'own war logic’

Karl Nehammer told NBC in an interview that he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war. He said “we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.’’

Published April 16,2022
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Austria's chancellor said after meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow this past week that the Russian president is "in his own war logic" when it comes to Ukraine.

Karl Nehammer told NBC in an interview that he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war. Nehammer was the first European leader to meet Putin in Moscow since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. He said "we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.''

Before arriving in Moscow last Monday, Nehammer had visited Bucha, Ukraine, the town outside of Kyiv where graphic evidence of killings and torture has emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Nehammer told "Meet the Press" that he confronted Putin with what he had seen in Bucha, and "it was not a friendly conversation."

He said Putin said "he will cooperate with an international investigation, on one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesn't trust the Western world. So this will be the problem now in the future."