Austria’s chancellor said he believes President Vladimir Putin is stuck “in his own war logic.”
Speaking about his meeting last week with Putin, Chancellor Karl Nehammer told NBC’s Chuck Todd, “I think he is now in his own war logic, you know? He thinks the war is necessary for security guarantees for the Russian Federation. He doesn’t trust the international community. He blames Ukrainians for genocides in the Donbas region.”
Nehammer, whose interview was to air Sunday on “Meet the Press,” also said Putin is of the belief that Russia is winning the war against Ukraine.
The Austrian leader recently visited the devastated Ukrainian city of Bucha to see for himself what Russian forces had done there. He said he discussed the carnage with Putin.
“I did the trip to Moscow to confront President Putin with that which I saw,” he told Todd. “You know, it was not a friendly conversation. It was a frank and tough conversation. And I told him what I saw. I saw the war crimes. I saw the massive loss of the Russian army.”
Austria’s chancellor said it is imperative the world continues to confront Putin about what he and his forces are doing.
“What is necessary is to confront him all the time with that which is going on in Ukraine,” Nehammer said.
“I think this is necessary. You know, at the end of our talks, he told me in German it’s better the war ends earlier than later. So I think he knows exactly what’s going on now. And we have to confront him. In other words, we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.”