An Interior Ministry engineer collects duds in Hostomel, Ukraine, April 18. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
A ceasefire in Ukraine is not in sight but could come in the coming weeks depending on how the war and ongoing negotiations progress, according to Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
“Ceasefires…not in sight at the moment, but maybe in a few weeks. They could be a bit longer,” Griffiths said Monday in his speech to reporters at the UN headquarters in New York City.
Griffiths said he plans to travel to Turkey later this week to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to explore ways for the UN to support the peacekeeping and negotiation process between Ukraine and Russia. He added that he was “really impressed” by the role Turkey is playing in the conflict, calling the country “an important aspect” of the situation.
“We have to monitor the talks very, very closely, hence the trip to Turkey this week,” Griffiths said.
Griffiths said he also hoped Turkey could host a “humanitarian contact group” through which humanitarian aid negotiations could be discussed. He said Ukrainian officials have already agreed and he hopes Russian officials will do the same.
Griffiths added that Ukrainian officials have agreed to most of the UN’s humanitarian aid and ceasefire proposals, but Russia has yet to provide a similar response.
“Obviously we have not yet reached a humanitarian ceasefire. I went into great detail on the Russian side and they have further promised to get back to me with the details of these proposals,” Griffiths said. “In Ukraine it was a very welcome meeting with their leadership. They agreed with most of the suggestions we are making, we have yet to get the same response from the Russian Federation.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres assigned Griffiths on March 28 to meet Ukrainian and Russian officials on arrangements for a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine.
Griffiths said he recently met with Ukraine’s prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, Ukraine’s defense minister and deputy foreign minister for this reason. He has previously said he met with Russian officials on April 4.
The goal of the talks with both parties is to ensure authorities are aware of the United Nations’ humanitarian efforts and to discuss ways the United Nations could improve its humanitarian notification system, Griffiths said.
Griffiths said Ukrainian officials had approved the idea of a joint humanitarian contact group and the idea of local ceasefires for the purpose of delivering humanitarian aid, but the Russians had “not put local ceasefires high on their agenda, not yet.”
“On the humanitarian side, we need a much more willing acceptance, especially from the Russian Federation, of allowing convoys in and out,” Griffiths said.
When asked if he believed Russia would, in good faith, implement a permanent ceasefire, Griffiths said he would continue to try to facilitate and broker one, despite the current lack of action from the Russian side.
“Hope is the currency of the mediator,” Griffiths said. “In every war I’ve been involved in, you always, always start on a hopeless basis, because it looks so horrific, the atrocities are so horrific… you move on because, honestly, what’s the alternative? He added that “don’t stick with it [negotiations]that would be irresponsible.”