Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the Kremlin on April 26, 2022. (Kremlin photo)Analysts fear that the United States and its Western allies could simply nullify all diplomatic efforts by repeatedly providing military assistance to Ukraine.
MOSCOW/KIEV, April 29 (Xinhua) -- While the international community is making diplomatic efforts in hopes of ending Russia-Ukraine hostilities, analysts fear that the United States and its Western allies could simply nullify all such attempts by repeatedly providing military assistance to Ukraine.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres travelled to Russia and Ukraine this week to mainly explore how the UN could aid in evacuating civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol.
As part of international efforts to help solve the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Guterres' visit came at a time when fighting between the two countries has entered the third month and their peace talks have fallen into a stalemate.
DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Guterres in the Kremlin on Tuesday, when he told the UN chief that "despite the ongoing military operation, we still hope that we will be able to reach agreements on the diplomatic track."
Guterres said that the UN is willing, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross, to assess the situation at Mariupol's Azovstal plant in order to evacuate civilians from there.
After a meeting with Guterres on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters that his country was ready for urgent talks to evacuate people from Mariupol and hoped that the participation of the UN secretary-general in this mission would facilitate the evacuation efforts.
"We will continue to call for a complete ceasefire, as well as for immediate practical measures to save lives and minimize human suffering," Guterres stressed.
Commenting on Guterres' trip, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Moscow positively assessed the UN's desire to play a constructive and unbiased role.
Along with many other countries, China has always supported and encouraged all diplomatic efforts that are conducive to the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis and has proposed a six-point initiative on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
