The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, will travel this Monday to Russia's capital, Moscow, where he will meet President Vladimir Putin tomorrow in the framework of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This was announced by the UN press center through its account on the social network Twitter, where it explained that on Tuesday it will also hold a lunch and a working meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.
As Deputy United Nations Spokesperson Eri Kaneko explained, the main objective of the Secretary-General's trip is to reach a path to an end to hostilities and “silence the guns” in Eastern Europe.
“He wants to discuss with leaders what steps can be taken right now to silence guns, help people and allow those who want to leave to have a safe passage,” Kaneko said at a press conference.
On the other hand, the spokeswoman stated that the Russian Government has not placed any conditions for holding the meeting, while at the same time it highlighted the complexity of organizing such a visit, so that the delegation accompanying Guterres will be reduced.
Guterres himself confirmed the trip on Saturday, adding that on Thursday he will travel to Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky. “We need urgent measures to save lives, end human suffering and achieve peace in Ukraine,” he stressed through his Twitter account.
Last week, the Secretary-General of the United Nations sent letters to the permanent missions of Russia and Ukraine to the UN requesting a meeting with Putin and Zelensky in Moscow and Kiev, respectively.
He said that he seeks to discuss “urgent measures” that will lead to peace in Ukraine and that the future of multilateralism is based on the Charter of the United Nations and international law. In this regard, he stressed that both Ukraine and Russia are founding members of the UN and have always been “strong supporters” of the organization.
On the same day, Guterres asked the Russian and Ukrainian authorities for a four-day ceasefire in Ukraine on the occasion of Orthodox Easter, which this year is celebrated “under the cloud of a war” which represents a “total denial” of messages traditionally at this time.
(With information from Euroa Press)
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