UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to Russian and Ukrainian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday.and asked them to meet in Moscow and Kyiv, their spokesman Stéphane Dujarric announced on Wednesday.
(Read here: Mariúpol on the verge of falling into Russian hands)
A file photo of Ukrainian soldiers.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th the UN was excluded from the conflictpartly because of the rift it caused between the five permanent members of the Security Council, which includes Russia along with the United States, France, Britain and China.
In this “At a time of great danger and consequences, (Guterres) wants to talk about urgent measures to bring peace to Ukraine and the future of multilateralism based on the UN Charter and international law.”the speaker specifies.
The secretary-general noted that “Ukraine and the Russian Federation are founding members of the UN and have always been ardent supporters” of the organization, he adds.
At this time of great danger and consequences (Guterres) wants to talk about urgent measures to bring peace to Ukraine
(Further news: Russia issues another ultimatum to Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to surrender)
With these letters, delivered to the UN diplomatic missions of Russia and Ukraine, Guterres is trying to seize the initiative and resume dialogue to find a peaceful solution to the escalating war in Ukraine.
So far, Antonio Guterres has had little contact with the Ukrainian president, with whom he spoke on the phone on February 26. The Russian President has refused to speak to him because he has asserted that Russia is violating the UN Charter by invading Ukraine
Guterres.
On Tuesday, Antonio Guterres condemned Russia’s new offensive in eastern Ukraine and called on the parties to halt fighting during a four-day “humanitarian lull” during the Orthodox Easter holiday.
AFP
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