INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Monday said he was "rather pessimistic" about the chances of diplomacy after being the first European
leader to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin since the start of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine.Describing Putin as having
"massively entered into a logic of war," Nehammer told reporters: "If you're asking me whether I am optimistic or pessimistic, I'm rather
battle'," he added.However, he said he spoke to European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after the
meeting and said he had impressed on them the "need for more such meetings" to directly express European outrage at Russia's actions.While
Nehammer said there was "very little interest on the Russian side in a direct meeting" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he said
the one glimmer of hope was Putin's continued interest in the Istanbul peace talks.In an earlier statement Nehammer had said his meeting
between the two men, which took place at Putin's residence outside Moscow, was not "a visit of friendship."Nehammer described the
conversation as "direct, open and hard."The Austrian government had requested the meeting be held behind closed doors with no joint pictures
or statements from the two leaders."I mentioned the serious war crimes in Bucha and other locations and stressed that all those responsible
have to be brought to justice," Nehammer said.Russia denies its forces have committed war crimes.On the topic of sanctions Nehammer said he
had "told President Putin very clearly that the sanctions will remain and be intensified as long as people keep dying in Ukraine."Nehammer
also told Putin of the "urgent" need for humanitarian corridors "to bring water and food into besieged towns and (to) remove women, children
and the injured.""I will now inform our European partners about the conversation and discuss further steps," he said.Nehammer's trip to
Moscow followed a visit to Kyiv on Saturday where he held talks with Zelensky.
