The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week after a visit in Moscow to discuss the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the UN stated on Friday.
The UN stated in a statement that Guterres will meet with Zelensky and Ukraine’s foreign minister on Thursday, two days after visiting Moscow.
Putin will meet Guterres on Tuesday, the Kremlin said on Friday.
Guterres requested these in-person meetings in letters issued this week in an effort to reclaim the initiative for the UN, which has been mostly sidelined in the crisis since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
This is due, in part, to the fact that the conflict has split the permanent members of the UN Security Council: the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia.
China has declined to denounce the incursion, portraying Russia as a victim of Western destabilisation operations.
Guterres hoped to spark conversation to end the fighting with the letters he wrote on Tuesday.