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| Secretary General (UN) Antonio Guterres will meet Putin and Zelensky next week |
International Military - Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres is rumored to be visiting Russia and Ukraine next week. Guterres will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for a work meeting and lunch with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
In the meeting, Antonio Guterres will discuss the current problems and how to solve them. "He (Antonio Guterres) hopes to quickly discuss what can be done to bring peace to Ukraine," Eri Kaneko, a spokesman for Guterres' partner, told Reuters.
Then, Guterres will also meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and staff on Thursday. "The meeting will discuss increasing humanitarian aid efforts," the UN spokesman's office told Reuters.
Antonio Guterres has asked to meet the leaders of the two countries in separate letters submitted to their countries' permanent missions at the United Nations. UN spokeswoman Stephane Dujarric said separate letters had been submitted on Tuesday afternoon (19/4) to the two countries to be able to receive Guterres in their countries.
"He wanted to discuss urgent steps to bring about peace in Ukraine and the future of multilateralism based on the United Nations Charter and international law," Dujarric said. On the same day, the UN Secretary-General called for a four-day Orthodox Easter humanitarian pause in the fighting in Ukraine starting Thursday.
During the meeting, he hoped for the safe passage of civilians from conflict areas and the delivery of humanitarian aid to severely affected areas. “The secretary general is not so disappointed that his request (to meet the two leaders) was not rejected, but he is still worried because there is still no sign of a ceasefire.
"that civilians cannot leave the besieged area and that the assistance that the United Nations and our partners are ready to provide for this. besieged areas cannot enter", Kaneko said. Therefore, Secretary-General (UN) Antonio Guterres will continue the discussion for as long as his visit to Russia.
As a reminder
Russia's aggression against Ukraine is the largest attack in a European country since 1945. In this conflict, thousands of people have been killed or injured. And, more than 12 million people need humanitarian assistance in the country as of today.
Since the start of what President Putin has described as a special operation to demilitarize Ukraine, Russian forces have been bombing towns and cities to rubble. And hundreds of bodies of civilians were found in the towns after his troops withdrew citing Reuters.