Austrian leader holds 'open and tough' talks with Putin in Moscow

FILE PHOTO: Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer attends a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, March 31, 2022. Steffi Loos/Pool via REUTERS

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer held "direct, open and tough" talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, in a visit that drew mixed European reactions including surprise, scepticism and condemnation.

Nehammer is the first European Union leader to meet Putin since he ordered his troops to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.