War in Ukraine: in Moscow, Guterres proposes the creation of a humanitarian contact group
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, in conversation with UN Secretary General Guterres in the Kremlin on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. AP - Vladimir Astapkovich
Text by: RFI Follow
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Before kyiv, the UN Secretary General was in Moscow on Tuesday.
António Guterres was received by the head of diplomacy, then by Vladimir Putin.
The opportunity to plead for a truce, and to call on Ukraine and Russia to work with the United Nations to achieve humanitarian corridors.
Mr. Putin has conceded an agreement “
in principle
”, according to the UN, concerning the civilians trapped in the Azovstal factory, on the side of Mariupol.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin told United Nations chief António Guterres on Tuesday in the Kremlin that he still believed in the possibility of a positive outcome to negotiations with Ukraine despite the war.
Sitting at his long table facing Mr. Guterres, on his first visit to Moscow since the start of the war two months ago, Mr. Putin explained that talks with kyiv had been derailed by allegations of atrocities committed by Russian forces in the town of Boutcha.
He spoke of “
provocation in the village of Boutcha
”.
The Russian military "
has nothing to do
" with it, he swore.
“
We know who prepared this provocation, by what means and what kind of people worked on it.
»
Despite everything, the negotiations continue (...) I hope that we will reach a positive result
►Read also: Berlin authorizes the delivery of armored vehicles to Ukraine, a turning point in German policy
Putin meets UN secretary general António Guterres in the Kremlin.
The long table is back!
pic.twitter.com/zjVkHRFL5v
— max seddon (@maxseddon) April 26, 2022
Putin makes a gesture
Even if he stuck to his guns, when discussing the root causes which, in his view, led to the current conflict, Vladimir Putin declared to the number one of the UN that he was "
aware
" of the the latter's concerns about the "
Russian military operation
" in Ukraine, in his words, and even willing to discuss the subject.
The Russian President believes that the negotiations in Istanbul last March allowed "
serious progress, because our Ukrainian colleagues did not link the security requirements, of Ukraine's international security, to a certain understanding of the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine
”.
As for António Guterres, who came to Moscow to plead for a ceasefire in Ukraine "
as soon as possible
", he said to Mr. Putin the same thing as to his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, earlier in the day, that he would like to see Moscow and Kyiv work with the UN to establish humanitarian corridors.
It would have been heard: the Russian president has indeed agreed "
in principle
" to the participation of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross in the evacuation of civilians trapped in the Azovstal factory in Mariupol, according to a UN statement released after the meeting.
Discussions will be held between the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Russian Defense Ministry, the statement added.
In Moscow, Secretary-General @antonioguterres met with Russian president Vladimir Putin and reiterated the UN's position on Ukraine.
They discussed proposals for humanitarian assistance & evacuation of civilians from conflict zones.
Full readout: https://t.co/GqlxzmGYCT pic.twitter.com/trlqMwZsNX
— UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) April 26, 2022
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (right), with UN Secretary General António Guterres, in Moscow on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. AP - Maxim Shipenkov
Guterres wants corridors
For weeks, the Ukrainian and Russian authorities have been unable to reach agreements to set up these humanitarian corridors, in order to allow the evacuation of civilians from the conflict zones in Ukraine.
A situation denounced by Moscow, which accuses kyiv of frustrating all attempts.
And on the Ukrainian side, the authorities refuse to do so, because these evacuation operations do not benefit from any guarantee from international organizations.
On Monday, Moscow announced the establishment of humanitarian corridors to allow the evacuation of civilians still present in Mariupol.
But a few hours later, kyiv denied any agreement with Russia.
In question: the risks that the operation will fail, and that the convoys will be bombarded.
This Tuesday, alongside Sergei Lavrov, the UN Secretary General proposed the creation of a contact group with the United Nations, to move forward on this file.
The organization intends to do everything possible to set up such corridors.
"
We urgently need truly safe and effective humanitarian corridors, respected by all, to evacuate civilians and deliver much-needed aid,
" he said.
“
With this in mind, I have proposed the creation of a humanitarian contact group bringing together the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the United Nations to explore the possibilities of opening safe corridors with a local cessation of hostilities and to guarantee that they are really effective.
»
I am concerned about repeated reports of violations of international humanitarian law and possible war crimes, which require an independent investigation to pinpoint responsibilities.
Audio: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Moscow
Anastasia Becchio
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, second from left, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, facing him, during their meeting in Moscow on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. AP - Maxim Shipenkov
Sergei Lavrov himself assured that Russia wanted to “
protect civilian populations
” and was “
ready to cooperate with our colleagues from the United Nations
”.
This is not the first time that such an initiative has been launched.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a specialist in the field, had already attempted mediation to allow the establishment of such corridors.
The initiative had ended in failure, recalls
Romain Lemaresquier
, of the international service of RFI.
War in Ukraine: Washington and its allies in Ramstein to strengthen kyiv's military capabilities https://t.co/xZLdDvLubF pic.twitter.com/8JX7fyamdD
— RFI (@RFI) April 26, 2022
Ukraine: the war continues
The United States brings together some forty allied countries in Germany to further arm Ukraine against Russia.
And during this time in Moscow, the head of Russian diplomacy, on the sidelines of his meeting with the number one of the UN, raises the specter of a world war.
In the eyes of Sergei Lavrov, by supplying arms to Ukraine, the countries of the Atlantic Alliance are engaging in a proxy war with his country.
"
NATO, in essence, is engaged in a conflict with Russia via an intermediary and it arms this intermediary
," said the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“
It means war.
»
In this logic, Western military equipment constitutes a “
legitimate target
” for Moscow, continues Mr. Lavrov.
In recent days, storage warehouses have been targeted by Russian fire in western Ukraine, but also rail infrastructure in the Donbass and in the center-west of the country, the objective being to disrupt deliveries of weapons from foreign countries.
The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs multiplies the warnings to Westerners on a risk of escalation.
“
The inadmissibility of nuclear war is our principled position.
(...) But the danger is serious, real.
And we shouldn't underestimate
it,” he says.
The opportunity for the head of diplomacy to protest for the umpteenth time against the " unlimited
" enlargement
of NATO, explaining at a press conference that the operation that Russia is currently carrying out in Ukraine is intended to eliminate the "
actions the West has taken in violation of its obligations not to strengthen its security at the expense of Russia's security
".
Anastasia Becchio
, international writing
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