Guterres from Ukraine: The Security Council failed to prevent war and failed to end it
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres blamed the Security Council for the failure to prevent the outbreak of armed conflict in Ukraine.
"Let me be clear: the Security Council has failed to do everything in its power to prevent and end this war, and this is a source of disappointment, frustration and anger," Guterres said Thursday, during a press conference in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Secretary-General admitted that he does not have confidence in the possibility of reforming the UN Security Council in the foreseeable future.
Today, Guterres held talks in Kyiv with Zelensky and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, after he visited the cities of Borodinka, Bucha and Irbin in the Kyiv province, which were badly affected by the hostilities.
Guterres arrived in Ukraine two days after his visit to Moscow, where he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Guterres indicated, according to "Russia Today", that he and Zelensky held intensive discussions to discuss the situation in the city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, describing it as "a crisis within a crisis."
He explained that he discussed with Zelensky ways to move forward to evacuate the last Ukrainian forces trapped inside the huge Azovstal steel plant and civilians who the Kyiv government says are there, adding: "We are doing everything we can to evacuate people from Azovstal."
The Secretary-General said he would not reveal details or the date of the possible evacuation in order to prevent its failure.
Azovstal remains the last stronghold of forces loyal to the government of Ukraine in Mariupol, and the Kyiv government is talking about the presence of civilians also in this huge factory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously ordered his country's forces not to storm the plant, which houses a fortified and complex network of Soviet-era underground facilities.
Russia recently announced unilaterally the suspension of hostilities in Mariupol in order to enable civilians whose presence in the "Azovstal" government is talking about, to evacuate in any direction according to their choice, but the Ukrainian government denied the existence of an agreement with Moscow to grant humanitarian corridors, and demanded the involvement of the United Nations and the Cross Red is in the process of a possible evacuation.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations during his visit to Borodianka: "War is absurd in the 21st century .. War is evil."
In Bucha, Guterres called on Russia to cooperate with the investigation launched by the International Criminal Court into suspected war crimes in Ukraine, expressing support for "a comprehensive investigation and accountability."
In Irbin, Guterres said, "The horrific scenario shows something that is unfortunately always true, which is that civilians always pay the heaviest price."
Russian forces took control of Bucha on the fifth of last March, and withdrew from it on March 30, when Moscow announced, in light of progress in negotiations with Kyiv during a meeting held in Istanbul, that it would reduce its military activities in the Kyiv and Chernigov axes.
In the following days, Ukrainian authorities and international media released footage showing corpses in the city's streets who Kyiv said were civilians killed by Russian forces.
For its part, Russia categorically rejected these accusations, noting that the circulation of these footage began four days after the withdrawal of its forces from Bucha.
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