Tokyo, 27 April, /AJMEDIA
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on Russia to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine amid the ongoing war in the East European country.
In a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, the U.N. chief proposed the launch of a Humanitarian Contact Group to ensure safe evacuation of civilians in war-affected areas.
“We urgently need humanitarian corridors that are truly safe and effective and that are respected by all to evacuate civilians and deliver much-needed assistance,” Guterres told a press conference after the meeting.
“To that end, I have proposed the establishment of a Humanitarian Contact Group, bringing together the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the United Nations, to look for opportunities for the opening of safe corridors, with local cessations of hostilities, and to guarantee that they are actually effective,” he said.
Guterres also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the two agreed to have the United Nations and the International Red Cross involved in the evacuation of civilians from a steel mill in Mariupol, a key port city in southeastern Ukraine, the U.N. chief’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The top U.N. official’s visit to Moscow came as international concerns are growing over the situation in Mariupol, which Putin has said Russian forces have effectively seized. The United States has doubted Putin’s claim.
Mariupol is an area that links Ukraine’s eastern regions of the Donbas with Crimea, which was annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014.
Guterres called the talks with Lavrov “a very frank discussion,” but he also indicated the two failed to narrow gaps over the steps to be taken to end the war in Ukraine.
“It is clear that there are two different positions on what is happening in Ukraine,” the U.N. head said, adding, “The United Nations has repeatedly called for ceasefires to protect civilians and to facilitate a political dialogue to reach a solution.”
It is the first trip by the U.N. chief to Moscow since Russia started military operations against Ukraine in late February. He is scheduled to visit Ukraine and meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday.
