“Ukraine is an invasion, but I come here with a pragmatic approach. Any established rule must be established with the consent of the international community and in accordance with international law. This question must be solved with instruments created by the UN Statute”. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterresface up Wladimir Putin during the meeting, which took place in Moscow, trying to push towards a rapid armistice in the Ukraine conflict and the opening of a negotiating table. Words that follow those of the Russian President, who once again proposed the narrative that has accompanied him since the beginning of the offensive, after which the military was in Moscow “Forced” to intervene to put an end to in the eastern Ukrainian regions “Genocide” committed by Kyivand sets his terms for the United Nations: “Without Crimea and Donbass an agreement is impossible”. And reacts to the allegations surrounding the massacre Bucha: “A provocation, the Russian army has nothing to do with it”.
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At the beginning of his speech, the head of the Kremlin He wanted to emphasize that Russia has supported and will support the United Nations. But the niceties were soon replaced by claims. And Putin decided to immediately refresh the comparison with that Kosovo in which, he said, NATO decided to intervene militarily to meet the demands of the people of the former Serbian region. Today, however, Russia is “forced” to intervene militarily in the eastern regions of Ukraine to ensure respect for the rights of Ukrainians Russian-speaking population who lives in these areas, even if he has not pointed out that in these areas there is still a massive presence of citizens who look more to the West than to Moscow. And for the Kremlin, the recognition of Crimea and Donbass is an indispensable prerequisite for a ceasefire: “The talks are ongoing, they are taking place online, we hope for positive results. But without an agreement on Crimea and Donbass, it is not possible to sign it security guarantees about Ukraine – said Putin – Ukraine’s partners had agreed a Istanbul Leave Crimea, Donbass and our recognition of the People’s Republics out of the negotiations Luhansk and DonetskBut now they’ve “drastically changed” their line. That Minsk Agreement 2 They were an attempt at a peaceful solution, but the population of Donbas remained under siege and military pressure “from Kyiv.
Putin then anticipates Guterres’ words on the crimes and civilian casualties that must be contained, and introduces himself to the subject of Bucha, a city where the Federation Army has been indicted Violence, rape, torture and mass murder by hundreds of unarmed civilians. “We know who staged it provocation in Bucha – he continued – the Russian army has nothing to do with what happened. The Bucha provocation “came to sabotage the important progress made in the Istanbul talks,” he added.
Guterres reminded the Russian President that the first goal of the United Nations is to limit civilian casualties as much as possible. And for that he urged the need in his speech Ensuring real humanitarian corridors for the civilian population of Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities besieged by the Moscow army. That’s it “The UN is ready to act as a guarantor for the evacuation of people from Mariupol”.
Putin responded to these words by claiming that “the situation in Mariupol is tragic, but the fight is over”, Adds that“ more than 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered ”and that“ the steel plant Azovstal it is completely isolated, no fighting takes place there. If the Kyiv forces don’t liberate civilians in Azovstal, they behave like terrorists,” he concluded, again proposing the version of using civilians human shields by military and paramilitary forces linked to Kyiv. And he offered the UNO and the Red Cross visit i prisoners of war Ukrainians to check their condition and treatment.
Later in the day, Guterres also met with Moscow’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “I came like messenger of peace. My plan is closely related to saving lives and relieving suffering. It is necessary to create the conditions for dialogue and a armistice in Ukraine as soon as possible‘ he also made his debut on this occasion. “It is clear that there are two different positions. According to the Russian Federation, this is a special military operation with an undisclosed goal. For the United Nations, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a violation of territorial integrity. There is one point that is indisputable: there are no Ukrainian troops on the territory of Russia, but there are Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine. However, I firmly believe that the sooner peace is restored, the better for Ukraine, Russia and the rest of the world,” Guterres said, saying he was “concerned by reports of repeated human rights violations and war crimes‘which’ require a’independent investigation to have reliable results”.
Also on this occasion he repeated that “the humanitarian corridors necessary and they must be respected by everyone: I have proposed a humanitarian contact group with Russia and Ukraine for these corridors to be effective,” the UN secretary said. Guterres also touched on the issue of the veto power in the Security Council, which a draft General Assembly resolution (tabled by Liechtenstein and supported by the United States) called for abolition in order to limit Russia’s excessive power: “I am in favor of a moderate use“Of the power of veto that was introduced” to avoid a clash between permanent members that would lead to another war, “but since World War II, but since “time has passed and the power of veto has been used too often”. He But warned not to “have any illusions” about the possibility of changing the law: “I don’t think we can get a two-thirds majority with everyone and five that permanent members agree,” including Russia itself, he explained.
In fact, the Russian minister said on the subject that he was sure that “the right of veto remainsIt is one of the pillars of the United Nations Security Council that is not falling apart.” Lavrov accused the UN of “trying to remove the basic rules of the treaty” that established the United Nations, and not to the “sabotage“From the Minsk agreements, he said that Guterres was “very well informed” about the goals of “the special military operation”. He also repeated the story that “the operation in Ukraine is the result of theuncontrolled expansion NATO “east and” was launched to help civilians. Five humanitarian convoys have already been successfully organized in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, ”he reports. However, at the same time, he made it known that Russia “is ready to resume negotiations“With Ukraine” when there are interesting ideas”. The proposal to hold the new round of talks in Mariupol is “a theatrical gesture“From the Ukrainians who” probably wanted another heartbreaking scene. If we are talking about serious job cessations as part of the talks, it would be better if they respond to our proposals as soon as possible, ”Lavrov attacks. “We are for a negotiated solution, Zelensky himself took back what he asked for the week before, and that makes us sad: the Ukrainian side she is not interested to negotiations. If (Westler, ed.) continue to supply arms, the negotiations are unlikely to lead to good results,” he warns.