China News Agency, United Nations, March 28. UN Secretary-General Guterres held a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on the 28th, calling on relevant parties to immediately implement a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine.
Guterres said at a press conference on the same day that the month-long conflict between Russia and Ukraine has resulted in thousands of "pointless deaths", the displacement of 10 million people, and the systematic destruction of critical infrastructure. Global food and energy prices have soared.
"This has to stop," he stressed.
Guterres said that UN agencies are providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine as much as possible, but "the solution to humanitarian tragedy is not humanitarian", and the humanitarian crisis must be resolved through political means.
He therefore called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine so that political negotiations could progress towards a peace agreement based on the principles of the UN Charter.
Guterres said he had asked UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Griffiths to immediately discuss the possibility and arrangements for a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine.
He also called on the parties to the conflict, the international community and the United Nations to work for peace.
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