Russia's FM Lavrov regrets UN's failure to establish political solution in Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has expressed regrets over United Nations' failure to find a political solution to the Ukraine conflict. He stated that the United Nations including its secretary-general, missed an opportunity to achieve a political settlement of the Ukraine conflict when they did nothing for seven years to respond to the Kyiv regime's open and outright sabotage of the Security Council Resolution 2202, which approved the Minsk Agreements on the settlement in Eastern Ukraine.

As per the reports of Sputnik, the Russian Foreign Minister continued by stating that given UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' involvement in the situation, Russia recommended him to direct his pleas to the Kyiv authorities, demanding that they stop barring civilians from leaving the areas of the military operation. He went on to say that a UN representative is "currently on the ground" and is working to assist in the resolution of the issues that they have raised. When asked about the possibility of a European conflict, Lavrov reaffirmed that Russia is not interested in fighting.

Antonio Guterres met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow 

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on April 26. Guterres stated that the crisis in Ukraine was his top priority and that he arrived with a realistic approach and the purpose of assisting in the resolution of humanitarian difficulties in the combat zone. The UN secretary-general stated that the organization was prepared to collaborate with the Russian and Ukrainian forces, as well as the Red Cross, to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol, which is the last surviving stronghold of Ukraine in teh region.

Regarding the Ukraine crisis, Guterres stated that the possibility of reaching a peace agreement or a general cease-fire in Ukraine is presently not visible. In the last two months, Russia and Ukraine have held multiple rounds of talks in an attempt to reach an agreement that would result in a peaceful resolution to the issue. However, after some progress appeared to have been made during a Turkey-mediated conference in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian officials, Kyiv abruptly reversed course on previously agreed positions, putting the negotiations on hold.

Image: AP