Moscow address. For the first time since he took office in October 2022, the Swiss diplomat and president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will visit the Russian capital until the end of this week.
“I am on my way to Moscow to discuss important humanitarian issues in the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” Mirjana Spoljaric tweeted.
In a press release, the organization explains that this visit “follows the mission carried out by the ICRC president in Ukraine” in December 2022. Mirjana Spoljaric met there with “government officials, representatives of the Red Cross Society of Ukraine and associations of relatives of prisoners of war and civilian internees”.
Visits to prisoners of war
“One of the president’s absolute priorities is to ensure that prisoners of war on both sides can receive regular visits from the ICRC and that they are treated humanely, in accordance with international humanitarian law,” the statement read.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Kyiv’s and Moscow’s treatment of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners has been controversial and criticized by many international organizations. The UN states in particular that many prisoners of war are tortured.
“The ICRC is also willing to play the role of neutral intermediary for the exchange of prisoners and for any other humanitarian initiative, at the request of the parties,” the organization specifies in its press release.
In her tweet, Mirjana Spoljaric specifies that she should travel “in the coming weeks” to East Africa and Syria, to meet “communities that have suffered from conflicts for years.”
Source: BFM TV
