The Secretary General of the United Nations, the Portuguese António Guterres, sent letters to the Russian head of state Vladimir Putin and to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky with the request for a meeting in Moscow and Kyiv, respectively, reported this Wednesday (04/20/2022). ) the spokesman for the head of the UN, the Frenchman Stéphane Dujarric.
In those letters, Guterres reminds them that both Russia and Ukraine are founding members of the UN and “have always solidly supported the organization,” but now we are “in times of great peril.” The Portuguese politician tells them that he wants to discuss with them “urgent steps to bring peace to Ukraine” but also “the future of multilateralism based on the United Nations Charter and international law”.
The role of the UN in this war has been questioned not only because of its inability to end the conflict or its failure to mediate between the parties, but also because of the fact that Russia holds a permanent seat on the Security Council, the only one UN body with some executive powers but paralyzed by Russia’s veto power.
Russia didn’t even reply
With these letters, sent to the Russian and Ukrainian diplomatic missions at the UN, Guterres is trying to take the initiative and resume dialogue in order to find a peaceful solution to the war. So far, the Portuguese has had little contact with the Ukrainian President, with whom he spoke on the phone on February 26. Meanwhile, Putin refuses to speak to Guterres as he said Russia is violating the UN charter by invading Ukraine.
On Tuesday, António Guterres had denounced Russia’s new offensive in eastern Ukraine and urged the parties to halt fighting during a four-day “humanitarian lull” during the Orthodox Easter holiday, but only Ukraine backed his proposal, with the evacuation of civilians in the strongest to help affected areas hit by the war.
On the contrary, Russia has only stepped up its offensive against Donetsk, Lugansk and the besieged city of Mariupol, without even commenting on the UN Secretary-General’s proposal.
DZC (EFE, AFP)