MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin will next week hold talks with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Russia, the Kremlin said on Friday.
The announcement was made on the 58th day of Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, with thousands killed and more than 12 million displaced people, in Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II.
“On Tuesday, April 26, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will arrive in Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state news agency RIA Novosti.
“He will also be received by Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
No other details were immediately provided.
A UN spokesman said on April 20 that Guterres had asked to meet with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine.
The United Nations has been largely marginalized in the crisis since Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24.
Guterres seeks to spur dialogue to end the conflict, the UN said.
Putin has not taken Guterres’s phone calls, or had any contact with him, since the UN chief stated that Russia’s military campaign violated the UN charter.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Friday that Russian actions in Ukraine may amount to war crimes.
