MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during a visit to Moscow Tuesday that he was looking to find ways to stop the fighting in Ukraine as quickly as possible.
“We are extremely interested in finding ways in order to create the conditions for effective dialogue, create the conditions for a ceasefire as soon as possible, create the conditions for a peaceful solution,” Guterres said at the start of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Guterres was making his first visit to Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24 and was due to meet President Vladimir Putin after Lavrov.
“I know that we have… different interpretations about what’s happening in Ukraine,” he said.
“That does not limit the possibility to have a very serious dialogue on how best we can work to minimise the suffering of people.”
Guterres was to travel on from Moscow to Kyiv, where President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticised his decision to go to Russia before Ukraine as “simply wrong”.
Guterres has accused Russia of violating the UN charter by sending troops into Ukraine and has repeatedly demanded a ceasefire.
© Agence France-Presse