The UN chief has had little contact with Zelensky since the start of the war in Ukraine. (File)
United Nations:
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine next week after a stop in Moscow to discuss the war with President Vladimir Putin, the UN said Friday.
Guterres will see Zelensky and Ukraine’s foreign minister on Thursday, two days after a visit to Moscow, the United Nations said in a statement.
The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that Putin would meet Guterres on Tuesday.
Guterres sent letters this week requesting these face-to-face meetings to try to regain the initiative for the UN, which has been largely marginalized by the crisis since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
This is partly because the war has divided the permanent members of the UN Security Council: the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia.
China has refused to condemn the invasion, portraying Russia as a victim of Western attempts to weaken it.
With the letters he sent on Tuesday, Guterres tried to start a dialogue to end the war.
“At this time of great danger and with consequences, he would like to discuss urgent steps to bring peace in Ukraine,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said this week.
Guterres has had little contact with Zelensky since the beginning of the war, speaking to him by phone only once, on March 26.
Putin did not return Guterres’s calls or contact him as the UN chief stated that the invasion violated the UN charter.
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