Kramatorsk, Ukraine, April 11 (AFP/APP):Austria’s chancellor on Monday will become the first European leader to visit Moscow since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as Kyiv prepares for a huge Russian offensive in the country’s east.
Karl Nehammer said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and is expected to raise alleged war crimes in devastated areas around Kyiv that were under Russian occupation, including the town of Bucha.
Russia is believed to be seeking a link between occupied Crimea and Moscow-backed separatist territories Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas.
Austria is an EU member, but does not belong to NATO, though Nehammer’s spokesperson said Brussels, Berlin and Kyiv had been informed about the trip to Moscow.
The chancellor decided to organise the meeting after he met Zelensky in Kyiv on Saturday, his office said.
He wants “to do everything so that progress towards peace can be made” even if the chances of success are minimal, the spokesperson added.