The UN and Russia have come to the “moment of truth” / In the world / Nezavisimaya Gazeta
António Guterres visited Moscow to arrest Ukraine
Reuters photo
For the first time, the UN has joined in the settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and even at a high level. The secretary general of the organization, António Guterres, died in Moscow, where he conducted an investigation with Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The statements made after his conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs do not set up optimistic expectations. Russia is only ready to act in Ukraine, and the UN is not ready to sanction actions that further isolate the Russian Federation.
The formal reason for the visit of Guterres was the appeal of the countries – representatives of the UN, where the Secretary General began to have a more active influence on the regulation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. In addition, the head of the most authoritative international organization simply could not say his word. After all, on the day of his visit, the UN General Assembly voted for the meeting proposed by Liechtenstein and proposed that the General Assembly should meet without fail after the country – a member of the UN Security Council exercises its right of veto. The resolution of some identified identified primary indicators in the distribution of transformations of organizations is found and wider – the entire system of the international structure formed after the Second World War.
An additional intrigue to the visit of Guterres was given by Turkey’s behavior, the evidence of the authorities made it clear that progress was possible in the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who in every possible way positions himself as an intermediary between Moscow and Kyiv, had a conversation in Ankara with the UN Secretary General before he left for Russia. Information about its results is scarce. It is only known that the Ukrainian leadership as a whole is not very happy with the mission of Guterres. In Kyiv, they doubt both its effectiveness and the fact that the tour route was chosen correctly. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the Secretary General for the fact that he was going to first come to the Russian capital and only then visit Ukraine. But Guterres, apparently, decided not to irritate the Kremlin once again. In the case of a visit to Ukraine, one must visit Buchi and its peripheral regions left by the armed forces. It is an essential part of the itinerary of any Western politician visiting the country these days, and Guterres would certainly not be exceptional.
At the choice of a conversation between Sekgen and the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, a briefing was given, to which Lavrov confirmed that Russia was skeptical about the possibility of reaching an agreement with Zelensky. “You informed the president that immediately after Zelensky offered benefits in early March, we agreed. But the way the Ukrainian delegation behaved during the negotiations, the way Zelensky himself behaved, refusing to allow the fact that they received our new proposals a week ago, is, of course, depressing. Apparently, they are not particularly interested,” the minister said.
Temporary fuel consumption probably does not particularly concern the Russian leadership. In an accidental case, Lavrov rejected the idea of holding Russian-Ukrainian talks in Mariupol – it was proposed by the Ukrainian side, thus hoping for a successful truce in the city. The Minister called this proposal a theatrical gesture.
Guterres, in turn, indicated his interest to the UN just in a truce. But at the same time, he admitted that the chances of stopping the bloodshed are now small. “The UN is constantly increasing the consumption of fire for the protection of persons and requires dialogue, reaches the maximum situation. So far, this is impossible,” the Secretary General said. At the same time, Guterres took what he calculated on the progress in the evacuation of prominent persons from Mariupol. “I suggested coordinating the work of the UN, a special committee of the Red Cross, Ukraine and the Russian Federation to ensure the safe evacuation of technical persons who leave the territory of the Azovstal plant and from other parts of the city, depending on which ones you captured, as well as for in order to deliver the amount of humanitarian aid,” he said.
Russia does not give up hope to return to global security issues. Lavrov regularly repeated the idea that was often voiced by representatives of the Russian authorities: in the Kremlin, without considering Zelensky as an independent figure, they spoke about Ukraine with a higher frequency and better with the United States, and not with the structure of the country. According to the minister, now comes the “moment of truth” in international relations. “Either we all reconcile ourselves, something alone with a group of its satellites decides how it will be possible to live, or it will be possible to live on the basis of the UN Charter. Here, in fact, is a very simple choice, ”Lavrov indicated the connection of the Russian Federation. The subject of the forthcoming UN reform, although not directly mentioned by the Secretary General and the Minister, was nonetheless touched upon by them to one degree or another. Lavrov focused on the growing role in the organization of countries that did not affect Europe and North America, and he especially singled out the exclusion of the limitations of the Security Council groups of the right of veto. With this adherent Guterres. An important nuance: he opposed the investigation of events in Ukraine. In his opinion, the instruments are not exclusive for this organization. Thus, there is an occurrence of events in Ukraine related to the investigation of criminal prosecution. This will hardly suit Russia, but it is unlikely that she will understand something else.