UN Secretary-General Visiting Russia after Two Months’ War in Ukraine

Secretary-General António Guterres (at podium) briefs reporters on the situation in Ukraine.
“Inspired by Holy Week and all that it represents, I urge all parties – and all champions of peace around the world — to join my Easter appeal. Save lives. Stop the bloodshed and destruction. Open a window for dialogue and peace and keep faith with the meaning and the message of Easter,” said the Secretary-General.

Tomorrow, April 25^th, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres will visit Moscow, Russian Federation, after two months of Russian’s military activities in Ukraine. Besides the plan of being received by President Vladimir Putin, Guterresshall have a working luncheon with the Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Russia’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine started on 24 February. After failing to quickly take over Kyiv, its forces withdrew from around the capital and northern Ukraine, re-focusing a big offensive in eastern Ukraine. Rapid gains were made in the south by trying to create a land corridor with Transnistria, between Crimea and the areas held by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk. Strong resistance, however, from Ukrainians forces near Mykolaiv in the west and in Mariupol in the east, significantly slowed down the Russian advances.

The humanity crisis caused by the Ukraine war in Europe is probably the worst after the WWII, with several millions of Ukraine refugees rushing into the EU countries within a very short period of time. Meanwhile, the killing of the civilians in Ukraine, e.g. Butscha, has been shocking. The port city of Mariupol, which has been encircled since the start of March and almost totally destroyed, suffered from the inhuman conditions beyond description. The local mayor accused the Russian troops of war crimes for its intense shelling of the city, saying at least 20,000 civilians have been killed. Right now, several hundred Ukrainian troops still remain in the Azovstal metal works factory in the southern part, even if the city is mostly under the control of Russian forces.

Russian forces are now trying to “complete liberate” Donbas, which broadly refers to Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where Russian-backed separatists held significant territory before the “operation”.