UN Secretary-General António Guterres to meet separately with Putin, Zelensky in bid to end war

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is set to meet separately with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine next week to make urgent, face-to-face pleas for peace, the world body said Friday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Guterres is to meet Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and that Putin will also host the U.N. chief.

The U.N. later said that Guterres will head Thursday to Ukraine to see President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

In both visits, Guterres aims to discuss “steps that can be taken right now” to stop the fighting and help people get to safety, U.N. spokesperson Eri Kaneko said.

“He hopes to talk about what can be done to bring peace to Ukraine urgently,” she said.

Guterres had asked Tuesday to meet with the presidents in their respective capitals.

Guterres has urged Russia to stop its attack since it began two months ago, in what he called “the saddest moment” in his five years in the U.N.’s top job. He appealed Tuesday for a four-day “humanitarian pause” in fighting leading up to Sunday’s Orthodox Easter holiday.

On Tuesday, 26 April, he will have a working meeting and lunch with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and will be received by President Putin in Moscow.

Later on Friday, the UN spokesperson announced in another statement that Mr. Guterres will also travel to Ukraine next week.

He will have a working meeting with Foreign Minister Minister Dmytro Kuleba and will be received by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 28 April.

The UN Chief will meet as well with UN staff on the ground to discuss the scaling up of humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine.

The announcements come before the UN’s next appeal for war-torn country, which is being scheduled for next week.

In efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the UN chief wrote separate letters to the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, requesting to meet with each of them in their respective capitals, UN News reported last Wednesday.

Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the biggest attack on a European country since 1945, has killed or wounded thousands. More than 12 million people need humanitarian assistance in the country today, Guterres has said.

Since starting what it calls a special operation to demilitarize Ukraine, Russia has bombed cities to rubble and the bodies of hundreds of civilians have been found in towns after its forces withdrew. It denies targeting civilians and says, without evidence, that signs of atrocities were staged.

Western countries and Ukraine accuse Putin of unprovoked aggression.