April 17, 2022- 5:11 p.m.
Putin Told Me He’d Cooperate With War Crimes Investigation, but Doesn’t Trust the Western World
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has said Putin expressed openness to cooperating with an international investigation into potential war crimes committed in Ukraine.
Last Monday (April 11), Nehammer became the first European Union leader to meet with Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Prior to visiting Moscow, the Austrian leader went to Ukraine, where he visited Bucha and met with Zelensky.
In an interview with NBC on Saturday (April 16), Nehammer said he went to Russia after Ukraine “to confront President Putin” with what he saw in Ukraine.
“I told him what I saw. I saw the war crimes. I saw the massive loss of the Russian army.
And I told him that there is a need for humanitarian corridors for cities like Mariupol or Kharkiv, for example. Civilians need water and we need to take care of the wounded there,” Nehammer said.
Host Chuck Todd asked how Putin reacted when Nehammer accused his soldiers of committing war crimes.
“He told me he will cooperate with an international investigation, on the one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesn’t trust the Western world,” Nehammer said, adding: “this will be the problem now in the future.”
