MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin will next week hold talks with United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres in Russia, the Kremlin said yesterday.
The announcement was made on the 58th day of Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, with thousands killed and more than 12 million displaced people, in Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II.
“On Tuesday, April 26, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres will arrive in Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state news agency RIA Novosti.
“He will also be received by Russian President Vladimir Putin.” No other details were immediately provided.
UN confirmed that the secretary-general will meet with Putin in Moscow next week.
A UN spokesman said Wednesday that Guterres had asked to meet with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine.
Yesterday, UN spokeswoman Eri Kaneko said the Ukraine visit was still in the works.
“We are still working with Ukraine on the scheduling and preparation,” Kaneko told reporters.
The UN has been largely marginalised in the crisis since Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24.
Guterres seeks to spur dialogue to end the conflict, the UN said.
Putin has not taken Guterres’s phone calls, or had any contact with him, since the UN chief stated that Russia’s military campaign violated the UN charter.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said yesterday that Russian actions in Ukraine, which have included summary executions of civilians and levelling of civilian infrastructure, may amount to war crimes. – AFP, April 23, 2022
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