He is said to be more and more cut off from his supporters, while he hardly receives his counterparts anymore and exchanges less and less with Emmanuel Macron.
After a more discreet period, Vladimir Putin once again reappeared on the international diplomatic scene by receiving Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the first European leader to be received by Vladimir Putin since the beginning of the intervention in Ukraine.
"If you ask me now whether I'm optimistic or pessimistic, then I'm rather pessimistic," the Austrian Chancellor told reporters after his meeting.
“We should have no illusions.
President Putin has massively entered into a logic of war and he is acting accordingly” in the hope of recording “a rapid military success”, he added.
"There is little interest on the Russian side for a direct meeting" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the Chancellor.
Vladimir Putin nevertheless “reiterated his confidence” in the talks in Turkey.
The last session was held on March 29 in Istanbul.
No handshake
In addition, Karl Nehammer defended his "one-on-one" meeting in Russia, stressing "the importance of having personal contact to confront the president with the realities of war and directly convey the point of view of Europeans". .
In a statement, he had earlier described the more than hour-long discussion with the Kremlin chief as "frank, open and difficult".
"I spoke about the serious war crimes in Boutcha and other places, saying that all those responsible must be brought to justice," said the Austrian Chancellor.
Boutcha is a locality near kyiv that has become a symbol of atrocities, where Karl Nehammer went this weekend like other Western officials.
Moscow has firmly rejected any involvement.
To read also Diving among young pro-Putin Russians: “My homeland is more important than my own life”
"I made it clear to the Russian President the urgency of setting up humanitarian corridors to transport water and food and to evacuate women, children and the wounded from the besieged towns", underlined the Chancellor.
No image has filtered from the meeting which, according to the Austrian press, did not result in a handshake.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, this closed-door format was chosen at the initiative of the Austrian side.
Karl Nehammer says in particular that he "informed" German Chancellor Olaf Scholz "of the content of the exchange".
The Conservative Chancellor's move was decided after talks in kyiv on Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.