The United Nations and Turkey are discussing the creation of a “humanitarian contact group” to meet on Turkish soil – under the auspices of the United Nations – with the participation of Ukrainian and Russian officials, a senior international official said Monday.
Ukraine has already responded positively to the proposal. Russia, which was briefed earlier this month, has not yet made its position clear.
During a press conference Monday, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths, referring to the initiative, said he planned to travel to Turkey tomorrow, Wednesday and the day after Thursday, for talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But a little later he was forced to postpone the trip until he was younger, after being diagnosed as infected with the new coronavirus, the French Agency informed the British environment.
On Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed the plan by telephone with the Turkish president.
At the request of the Secretary-General, Martin Griffiths traveled to Moscow on April 3, then to Kyiv, to try to secure a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine and to present a series of proposals aimed at facilitating humanitarian intervention.
Last Wednesday, however, Antonio Guterres admitted that the cessation of hostilities “is not possible at the moment”. On Monday, Martin Griffiths said Moscow “does not put the ceasefire high on its priorities.” “Not yet,” he added.
As for the UN proposals, Ukraine “responded very positively,” the official said, but “we have not yet received a similar response from Russia.”
Mariupol and Odessa
Kyiv “accepts the idea” of creating a “so-called humanitarian contact group” involving Ukraine and Russia under the auspices of the UN, Griffiths said, adding that “Turkey will host »This team in its territory.
He also noted that he planned to go to Russia again, after his trip to Turkey, a country that is trying to mediate between Kyiv and Moscow to end the war that Russia unleashed on February 24.
According to Martin Griffiths, the “Humanitarian Contact Group” could be convened “at any time” to discuss “humanitarian issues” such as “ceasefire control”, “safe crossings” or “corridors”. allowing the evacuation of civilians.
One of the problems today with the organization of humanitarian corridors, as shown by their absence in Mariupol, is that “the two sides do not sit together” at the table and “blame each other” when something is not implemented as agreed, according to Griffiths.
Turkey is also “involved” in efforts to evacuate civilians from Mariupol, launching a “naval operation” to transport “800 people”, the UN official said.
For the Organization to remain in operation – despite the mines – the port of Odessa, where the silos with grain “are full”, is a matter of “paramount importance”, said the Deputy Secretary General, recalling the serious consequences of the Russian invasion in Ukraine for the supply of basic foodstuffs to dozens of countries around the world.
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