The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, will travel to Russia next week where he will be received by Vladimir Putin and then he will travel to kyiv to meet with the Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, with the intention of reactivating the dialogue that will allow progress in a ceasefire almost two months after the start of the conflict that keeps the world on edge.
“On Tuesday, April 26, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will arrive in Moscow to hold talks with the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. He will also be received by President Vladimir Putin,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in the first instance on Friday, quoted by Russian news agencies and replicated by AFP.
The UN later confirmed the visit that will entail the first meeting between Guterres and Putin since the beginning on February 24 of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, which has left thousands dead and more than 12 million displaced and exiled.
After Moscow, the secretary general will visit Ukraine where “he will meet with Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba and will be received by Volodimir Zelensky on April 28“, the UN said in a statement.
Guterres also expects to meet with UN agency teams on the ground “to discuss increased humanitarian aid to the Ukrainians,” he added.
On Tuesday, Guterres had sent letters to Presidents Putin and Zelensky to be received in Moscow and kyiv. Earlier that day, he had asked the two sides for a four-day “humanitarian break” during Orthodox Easter.
The United Nations is clearly marginalized in this crisis since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine on February 24 last. He has only had telephone contact with Zelenski on February 26.
And with Putin he has not spoken or maintained any contact since Guterres stated that Russia violated the United Nations Charter by sending troops to Ukraine.
Guterres tries to stimulate dialogue to end the conflict, according to the UN.
Putin has not spoken by phone with Guterres, nor has he had any contact with the UN secretary general since he claimed that Russia violated the UN Charter by sending troops to Ukraine.