The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Monday pleaded for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Ukraine “to allow for progress in serious political negotiations, [aimed] at reaching a peace agreement based on the principles of the United Nations Charter.”
Addressing the Ukrainian crisis Guterres said, “The war has led to the senseless loss of thousands of lives; the displacement of ten million people, mainly women and children; the systematic destruction of essential infrastructure; and skyrocketing food and energy prices worldwide. This must stop.”
Guterres explained that the UN and its various agencies have been working ceaselessly to support the victims of the ongoing hostilities. Currently, 1,000 UN personnel are posted in Ukraine. UN humanitarian agencies have supported refugee-hosting countries and provided nearly 900,000 people in eastern Ukraine, with food, shelter, medicine and bottled water.
Food and medical relief are reaching those in hard-hit areas. The World Food Programme has fed 800,000 people since the invasion and is building up its capacity to support 1.2 million people by mid-April. The World Health Organisation has reached more than half a million people with emergency health, trauma and surgery kits.
“The solution to this humanitarian tragedy is not humanitarian. It is political,” Guterres emphasised. He stressed the importance of cessation of hostilities:
A cessation of hostilities will allow essential humanitarian aid to be delivered and enable civilians to move around safely. It will save lives, prevent suffering, and protect civilians. I hope a ceasefire will also help to address the global consequences of this war, which risk compounding the deep hunger crisis in many developing countries that already lack fiscal space to invest in their recovery from the pandemic, and now face soaring food and energy costs. I strongly appeal to the parties to this conflict, and to the international community as a whole, to work with us for peace in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and across the world.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sunday confirmed that there have been 2,909 civilian casualties in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24. Of the 2,909 caught in the crossfire, 1,119 have been killed and 1,790 injured.
Ukraine announced Monday that it is hoping to engage in face-to-face talks with Russia starting Tuesday. In an interview that has been banned in Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine’s priority is a serious international treaty to resolve all conflicts once and for all. “We are ready to do this,” he said. He also stressed the importance of a referendum for Ukraine’s neutral status.
