UN chief in Moscow: Guterres urges peaceful solution

UN Secretary-General Guterres met President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov in Moscow. He called for a ceasefire and a peaceful solution to the Ukraine war. Putin is said to have agreed to an evacuation of the Azov steel mill.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres held talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin and previously with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The meeting with Putin in the Kremlin is said to have lasted about an hour.

Putin is said to be open to the evacuation of steel mills

The United Nations then said: “The President approved in principle the involvement of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross in the evacuation of civilians from the Azov Steelworks in Mariupol.”

To this end, the UN should remain in contact with the Russian Ministry of Defense. The conversation with Putin was also about improving humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

After the meeting, Putin said Russia was hoping for a “peaceful solution.” During their negotiations in Istanbul in March, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators achieved a “significant breakthrough”. However, the Ukrainian side later backed away from some of the preliminary agreements. This makes it difficult to negotiate a “future deal”.

Lavrov declared readiness for dialogue

Guterres had previously spoken to Lavrov for several hours. Guterres called for a speedy ceasefire and an end to the war. He has an interest in doing everything to end the war and the suffering of the people. Although the situation in Ukraine is complex and there are “different interpretations of what is happening there”, a dialogue is possible, according to the UN Secretary-General.

He is ready to mobilize the full resources of the United Nations to save lives. “Thousands of civilians are in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian assistance,” Guterres said. He is also concerned with reducing the effects of the fighting in Ukraine on food safety in other parts of the world. The effects of the war on food and energy prices are already being felt around the world.

Trilateral Group for Solving Humanitarian Problems

Guterres also expressed concern about possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine. The allegations against the Russian armed forces must be independently investigated, he said. The United Nations is ready to do whatever it takes to save lives in the besieged port city of Mariupol.

He proposed the formation of a trilateral group to solve humanitarian problems in Ukraine, consisting of representatives from the UN and the governments in Kyiv and Moscow. This contact group can ensure the safety of escape corridors, Guterres said.

After the meeting, Lavrov again rejected the Ukrainian government’s proposal to hold peace talks in Mariupol. Russia is interested in a diplomatic solution. However, it is still too early to talk about who will mediate in the negotiations.

Guterres meets Zelenskyy

For Guterres, it was the first trip to Moscow since the Russian attack on Ukraine began. He had traveled to the Russian capital as an “ambassador of peace” – as he himself said. After his stay in Russia, Guterres travels via Poland to Ukraine, where he wants to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.