The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, considered this Thursday as positive the ceasefire in Ukraine, announced by the Russian president for Orthodox Christmas, but admits that for now the conditions for a desirable lasting solution to the conflict are lacking.
“If there can be conditions so that people do not die at Christmas, that in itself is positive, but what fundamentally matters is a solution to the conflict and the solution is only possible on the basis of the United Nations charter and the law International”, Guterres. he told Lusa and Reuters, on the sidelines of a ceremony in which he received the University of Lisbon Award for 2020.
Russian troops fighting in Ukraine will observe a 36-hour ceasefire between noon on January 6 and midnight on January 7, President Vladimir Putin decreed today.
In a statement, the Russian Presidency (Kremlin) stated that Putin responded to an appeal by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Cyril, released this morning.
In reaction, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, Mykhailo Podoliak, called the announcement of a Russian ceasefire in Ukraine “hypocrisy” and called on Russian troops to leave the country.
For Guterres, “of course, Christmas is a special period and a holiday for Ukrainians and Russians”, but, despite the ceasefire, he insists on a solution to the conflict.
“At this moment, the conditions for an immediately effective peace solution have not yet been created, but I hope that it will be possible to create the conditions for a peace solution based on the United Nations Charter and international law to prevail,” he said. .
The UN Secretary General also referred to the agreement for the export of cereals held in Ukraine, through the Black Sea, highlighting the importance of the understanding reached in July between the United Nations and the authorities of kyiv, Moscow and Istanbul, and indicating that more than 15 million tons have already been transported.
“There have been some limitations in relation to the number of inspections, but the size of the ships has increased, which has allowed us to keep the pace, not as high as we would like,” he said.
António Guterres emphasized, on the other hand, a message that he had already left during his visit to the port of Odessa, in southern Ukraine, on August 19, regarding the export of Russian food: “We also remain committed to solving the problems of export of Russian fertilizers and grain that is also needed by the international community”.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine has already caused the flight of more than 14 million people -6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.9 million to European countries-, according to the most recent data. of the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
Right now, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the wider international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia in political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed since the beginning of the war 6,919 dead civilians and 11,075 wounded, stressing that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: TSF
