UN chief António Guterres calls for ceasefire in Ukraine

Moscow, April 26

UN Secretary General António Guterres has called for a ceasefire in Ukraine at his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Guterres is visiting Moscow and is then scheduled to visit the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, this week.

“We are interested in finding ways in order to create the conditions for effective dialogue, create the conditions for a ceasefire as soon as possible, create the conditions for a peaceful solution,” Guterres said, speaking in televised comments at the start of the meeting.

Guterres also said he wanted to reduce the impact of fighting in Ukraine on food security in other parts of the world.

Lavrov said they would discuss “the situation around Ukraine that acts as a catalyst for a great number of problems which had piled up over recent decades in the Euro-Atlantic region.”

Meanwhile, Lavrov warned Ukraine against provoking World War III and said the threat of a nuclear conflict “should not be underestimated” as Russia unleashed attacks against rail and fuel installations far from the front lines of Moscow’s new eastern offensive.

He said Russia has “a feeling that the West wants Ukraine to continue to fight and, as it seems to them, wear out, exhaust the Russian army and the Russian military industrial war complex. This is an illusion”. Weapons supplied by the West “will be a legitimate target,” said Lavrov, who accused Ukrainian leaders of provoking Russia by asking NATO to become involved in the conflict. — AP

Dialogue holds the key

We are extremely interested in finding ways in order to create the conditions for effective dialogue and ceasefire as soon as possible. — António Guterres, UN Secretary General

Risk of nuclear war

I would not want to see risks of a nuclear confrontation artificially inflated now, when the risks are rather significant. The danger is serious. — Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister

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