KYIV: United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres announced his arrival in Kyiv on Wednesday following talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I have arrived in Ukraine after visiting Moscow,” he wrote on his official Twitter account as he landed ahead of talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “We will continue our work to expand humanitarian support and secure the evacuation of civilians from conflict zones. The sooner this war ends, the better — for the sake of Ukraine, Russia, and the world,” Guterres tweeted.
At the Moscow talks on Tuesday, Guterres repeated calls for both Russia and Ukraine to work together to set up “safe and effective” humanitarian corridors in war-torn Ukraine. In turn, Putin told him he hoped that negotiations could end the conflict which saw Russian troops invading Ukraine on February 24.
“Despite the fact that the military operation is ongoing, we still hope that we will be able to reach agreements on the diplomatic track,” the Russian leader said in televised remarks. Talks had been taking place in Turkey but stalled after the discovery of civilian bodies in areas near Kyiv previously occupied by Russian forces.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Moscow on Tuesday, April 26. The two discussed ways to find a peaceful resolution to the ongoing war. At the crucial meeting, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres told a press briefing that the UN is “extremely interested in finding ways to create the conditions for effective dialogue, create the conditions for a ceasefire as soon as possible, create the conditions for a peaceful solution”. “I know that we have different interpretations about what’s happening in Ukraine,” Guterres said. “That does not limit the possibility to have a very serious dialogue on how best we can work to minimize the suffering of people,” he added. UN chief, alongside Russia’s foreign minister, said that the UN is ready to fully mobilize its resources and save the civilian lives in the besieged city of Mariupol. “Thousands of civilians are in dire need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance, and many have evacuated,” said Guterres. “The United Nations is ready to fully mobilize its human and logistical resources to help save lives in Mariupol,” he added. The UN, he further stressed, is coordinating with the Red Cross to allow those holed up inside the Azovstal steel plant to have a safe evacuation. UN chief also called for an independent investigation into the allegations of war crimes by Ukraine, acknowledging Russia’s concerns. Lavrov meanwhile said that Moscow is ready to cooperate with the UN to help the civilians safely evacuate the war zone. “Our goals are primarily to protect the civilian population and here we are ready to cooperate with our colleagues from the UN to alleviate the plight of the civilian population.” –Agencies
