Putin-Nehammer Meeting Underway

Spox for Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer confirms that the Austrian leader's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is underway. Metting taking place at Novo-Ogaryovo government residence a short distance outside Moscow.

• Following today's Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg stated that Nehammer would tell Putin that he has “lost the war morally”. Schallenberg added that "It should be in [Putin's] own interest that someone tells him the truth. I think it is important and we owe it to ourselves if we want to save human lives.”
• There remains skepticism among some Russia hawks in the EU as to the efficacy of engaging directly with Putin. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis stated that “I have seen a lot of effort by many leaders, by Emmanuel Macron, to try and see whether they can talk to the guy. I personally have no reason to believe that he is ‘talkable’.”