UN Chief Guterres En Route to Kyiv, Will Meet Zelensky, Says Spokesman

UN chief Antonio Guterres was traveling to Ukraine on Tuesday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev in his third visit since Russia’s full-scale invasion, his spokesman said.

“The Secretary-General has just arrived in Poland via Ukraine,” Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

Guterres was due to arrive in Kiev on Tuesday before meeting with Zelensky on Wednesday morning to discuss all aspects of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, as well as other relevant issues, the spokesman said.

Guterres is due to depart Ukraine on Wednesday and return to the UN headquarters in New York the next day.

No further details were given on the UN chief’s third trip after visits to Ukraine in April and August last year in the wake of Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022.

At a UN Security Council meeting held on the anniversary of the start of the war, Guterres called the invasion a “blatant violation” of the UN Charter and international law.

It has spread widespread death, destruction and displacement, including in permanent member Russia, he told the 15-member council, adding that life “was a living hell” for the people of Ukraine.

Guterres has stressed the human toll of the war, saying more than eight million Ukrainians have fled to other parts of Europe, and another 5.4 million are internally displaced.

He told the Security Council last month that half of Ukraine’s children have been forcibly removed from their homes and face a high risk of violence, abuse and exploitation.

The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in late February to demand Russia withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

But the Security Council meeting on the anniversary was largely symbolic.

The UN’s most powerful body has met 40 times over the past year over the Ukraine war, but little binding action has been taken because of Russia’s veto power.

Over the past year, Guterres has regularly offered to act as a mediator between Kiev and Moscow if the two sides want to resume talks.

During his first visit to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, Guterres called the war “an absurdity in the 21st century”.

The visit, during which he also met with Zelensky, was overshadowed by a Russian air raid on Kiev that killed a journalist. The visit was followed by talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Guterres’ visit in August focused on unblocking grain exports.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was brokered by the United Nations with Turkey last July and has helped reduce rising food prices that contribute to starvation in developing countries. The deal is about to end this month.

Kiev has seen a string of high-profile visits by Western leaders over the past year.

United States President Joe Biden, a prominent supporter of Ukraine, visited last month.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)