Russia-Ukraine Conflict: UN Chief To Meet Russian President Putin, Foreign Minister Today
Later on Thursday, the United Nations Chief António Guterres will hold a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
New Delhi: United Nations Secretary- General, António Guterres is scheduled to meet Russian President, Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to make urgent, face-to-face plea for peace, reported news agency The Associated Press.
Later on Thursday, the UN Chief will hold a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
During his visits with both the heads of nations, Guterres aims to discuss “steps that can be taken right now” to stop the fighting and help people get to safety, U.N. spokesperson Eri Kaneko said.
“He hopes to talk about what can be done to bring peace to Ukraine urgently,” she added.
The UN chief had urged Russia to stop its attack on Ukraine, calling it “the saddest moment” in his five years’ term. He appealed for a four-day “humanitarian pause” in fighting leading up to Sunday’s Orthdox Easter holiday.
“Stop that bloodshed and destruction. Open a window for dialogue and peace,” he said.
Earlier this month, Guterres had sent UN’s top humanitarian official to Moscow and Kyiv to explore possibilities of a ceasefire. But he was faced with questions such as whether he should himself appeal for peace.
In a recent letter, former U.N. officials called on him to step up his personal, public involvement. Whatever overtures may have been made privately, the now-planned trip “is a visible symbol of what the United Nations is supposed to be standing for, which is peace and security,” one of the letter-writers, former U.N. political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman, said by phone Friday.
“I don’t think any of us should have exaggerated expectations about what the secretary-general will be able to accomplish, but he has significant moral power,” said Feltman, now a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “It’s important that the secretary-general have these conversations.”
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