The first European Union leader to meet with Putin since the invasion of Ukraine says the Russian president 'believes he is winning the war'

Authored by businessinsider.com and submitted by kalianes

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer was the first EU leader to meet with Putin since the invasion.

Nehammer told NBC's "Meet the Press" the conversation was "frank and tough."

He also said Putin is "in his own war logic" and thinks Russia is winning the war.

Sign up for our weekday newsletter, packed with original analysis, news, and trends — delivered right to your inbox. Loading Something is loading. Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Russian President Vladimir Putin is fairly confident about his military campaign in Ukraine, even after Russian forces withdrew from part of the country after weeks of stagnation.

Nehammer on Monday became the first European Union leader to meet with Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" on Saturday, Nehammer said the conversation with Putin was not "friendly" but "frank and tough."

"I think he is now in his own war logic. He thinks the war is necessary for security guarantees for the Russian Federation. He doesn't trust the international community. He blames Ukrainians for genocide in the Donbas region."

When asked by host Chuck Todd if Putin thought he was winning the war, Nehammer said he thinks "he believes he is winning the war."

—Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 16, 2022

Nehammer said earlier this week he was "not particularly optimistic after my talks with Putin."

"I made it clear to Mr. Putin, his attitude, his view is not shared by anybody," Nehammer said during a press briefing in Moscow. "He sees it as a kind of self-defense operation of the Russian federation. He calls it special military operations. I call it the war."

Russian forces withdrew from areas around Kyiv earlier this month after failing to capture Ukraine's capital city and were dealt another blow this week after the warship Moskva was struck by a Ukrainian missile and sunk.

Russian troops have been regrouping for what is expected to be a new offensive in the eastern Donbas region.

ToriCanyons on April 17th, 2022 at 03:52 UTC »

Pay attention to what people do, not what they say.

He wouldn't be purging his advisors, his military, and his intelligence agencies if he believed he was winning the war.

joho999 on April 17th, 2022 at 02:17 UTC »

It's not like he would admit he is losing the war.

phoenix027205 on April 17th, 2022 at 02:13 UTC »

“Steiner will take care of them any minute now”