Austrian chancellor says Putin would participate in war crimes investigation

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the first European Union leader to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in person since the start of the war in Ukraine, said the Russian leader agreed to participate in an investigation into war crimes allegations against the Russian military.

Last week, Nehammer traveled to Moscow to meet with Putin after he had met with Ukrainian government officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

“He told me that he will cooperate with some international investigation on one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesn’t trust the Western world,” Nehammer told NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd on Sunday, adding that “it was not a friendly conversation.”

After images of dead civilians lining the streets of the Ukrainian city of Bucha were made public, numerous governments called for an investigation into alleged war crimes by the Russian military. Russia has denied committing any war crimes and has 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 each other, but I tried to convince him that for example the former Yugoslavian Wars showed us that international investigation is useful to prosecute the war criminals,” Nehammer added.

Todd noted that Nehammer apparently left his meeting with Putin somewhat pessismistic and asked him what led to that.

“We all can see that there is the preparation of a massive battle in the Donbas region. The Ukrainian side is prepared for that, the Russians prepare for that, and we will see many losses of human lives there. And so this is the reason why I’m pessimistic,” said Nehammer.

However, Nehammer noted that both Zelensky and Putin mentioned the ongoing peace talks taking place in Istanbul and said there was still “a little chance there for peace.”