On Saturday, April 23, the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, criticized UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ decision “without any logic” to travel to Moscow before Kyiv next week.
“It’s just wrong to go to Russia first and then to Ukraine”Zelenski said at a news conference, referring to Guterres’ schedule, which plans to travel to Moscow on Tuesday, April 26 and to Kyiv on Thursday, April 28.
He added that “it’s a decision without justice or logic”.
“The war is in Ukraine, there are no corpses on the streets of Moscow. It would be logical to go to Ukraine first and see the people, see the consequences of the occupation,” added the Ukrainian leader before visiting Russia.
Guterres is scheduled to meet with teams from local UN agencies in Ukraine “to talk about increasing humanitarian aid to Ukrainians.”
Ever since the Secretary-General of that organization claimed that Russia was violating the United Nations Charter by sending troops to Ukraine, the Russian President has refused to contact him.
Guterres hasn’t had much contact with the Ukrainian leader either.. It wasn’t until February 26, two days after the start of the Russian offensive, that they spoke on the phone.
On Tuesday, Guterres condemned the new Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine and called on both sides to end fighting to ensure a “humanitarian truce”. four days on the occasion of the Orthodox Easter, which is celebrated on Sunday.
Earlier, the President of Ukraine reported that United States Secretary of State and Defense Antony Binken and Lloyd Austin will visit Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Sunday.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that tomorrow people are coming from the United States, the Secretary of State, Mr. Blinken, and the Secretary of Defense, who are coming to visit us.”Zelensky pointed this out at the meeting with the media.
Likewise, he noted that “we hope that the President of the United States will come and speak to us when security allows.”
US President Joe Biden reported last week that he was working on sending high-ranking officials from his administration to Ukraine. The Sunday visit coincides with the celebration of Orthodox Easter.
Meeting with Putin?
Likewise Zelensky He asked to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “end the war”.
“I think whoever started the war will be able to end it,” after reiterating that he was not “afraid” of meeting Putin if it would facilitate a peace deal between the two countries.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has requested a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “end the war”. – Photo: (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) / Reuters“I have insisted from the start on negotiating with the Russian President. It’s not like I want to [reunirme con él]but I have to do it to resolve this conflict through diplomatic channels.”he added.
He stressed that “we trust our partners, but there is no trust in Russia”.
the President of Ukrainewarned, on the other hand, that if Russia kills the Ukrainian soldiers holed up in a giant steel plant in Mariupol, Kyiv would break off peace talks, a city in the southeast of the country that was besieged and bombarded by Russian troops for almost two months.
“If our men are killed in Mariupol and if so-called referendums are organized in the Kherson region [sur]Ukraine will withdraw from the whole negotiation process”he claimed.
He also said he was “ready” for “an exchange of our military defending Mariupol” in “any format” to “encircle the people who are in a terrible situation.”
Zelenskyy specified that “The last contact” with the soldiers holed up in the tunnels of the huge Azovstal Steelworks was “an hour ago”.
“Today is one of the most difficult days” since the Russian siege of Mariupol began in early March, he stressed.
UN endorses multilateralism to prosecute war crimes in Ukraine
For his part, the United Nations High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, defended cooperation between states to prosecute those responsible for the crimes in “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine” through several international forums.
In a statement sent out this Saturday, the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, Borrell once again condemned the aggression against Ukraine as not only “a humanitarian catastrophe for Ukraine and its people, but also one.” flagrant violation of international law”.
The European diplomat highlighted the work being carried out to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine by the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court, the Commission of Inquiry mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, the Ukraine Human Rights Monitoring Mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Expert Mission.
“Violations of international law have consequences. The European Union supports all measures to ensure accountability for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law wherever they occur,” Borrell said.
He added “The atrocities will not go unpunished. The perpetrators of war crimes and other serious violations will be held accountable.”
“Through multilateral action, we can restore security and build lasting peace for all. We owe it to the victims of the conflict and their families, to ourselves and to future generations,” he stressed.
*With information from AFP and Europa Press
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