Austrian Chancellor: 'Putin In His Own World'

Russian President Vladimir Putin is “in his own world,” and believes he’s winning the war in Ukraine, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Sunday.

In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” Nehammer — the first world leader to sit down with Putin since the Russian invasion began — said Putin “doesn’t trust the western world.”

“I think he is now in his own world. He thinks the war is necessary for Russian guarantees for the federation,” he said, adding, “he blames Ukrainians for genocide in the Donbas region [in southeastern Ukraine].

“I think he knows now what is going on in Ukraine,” Nehammer said, adding, however, “I think he believes he's winning the war.”

“ I think it is necessary to confront him all the time with what is going on in Ukraine,” Nehammer said. “At the end of our talks, he told me in German, ‘it's better that the war ends earlier than later.’ So I think he knows exactly what's going on now.”

According to Nehammer, the sit-down 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, and I told him there is a need for humanitarian coordinators for food and water, and we have to take care of the wounded there,” he said.

But he said Putin doesn’t trust the western world.

“He told me that he will cooperate with some international investigation on the one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesn't trust the western world, so this will be the problem now in the future,” the chancellor said. “I think international trust is the United Nations and an international investigation is necessary, so it was a tough discussion between each other.”

“We all can see that there is the preparation of a messy battle in the Donbas region” he added. “The Ukrainian side is prepared for that, the Russians are prepared for that, and we will see many losses of human lives there. So this is the reason why I'm pessimistic on the one hand. On the other hand, both sides… managed their Istanbul peace talks. Maybe we have a little chance there for peace.”

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