UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres travels to Moscow on Tuesday to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is the start of a tricky three-day journey for Guterres who is expected to try to revamp the UN's humanitarian efforts and steer clear of controversial political issues.
After two months of war, UN agencies are still unable to reach civilians in desperate need of aid in Eastern Ukraine. Furthermore, the UN Security Council has failed to make any resolutions denouncing the war as Russia is one of the five permanent members with the power of veto.
"Guterres will try to provide a new momentum for the UN to play a role for humanitarian access in the evacuation of civilians, especially from Mariupol, and in a broader context to allow better access of UN and other humanitarian agencies to the conflict zones.” according to security expert Jean-Marc Rickli who spoke to Al Jazeera on the issue.
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The move has been criticised in Ukraine as it may be used by the Kremlin for propaganda, but also for visiting Moscow before Kyiv.
“From the outset this trip has started off on the wrong foot,” said Rickli. “In such a polarised environment where disinformation is so facilitated by social media, anything Guterres will do or say might be weaponised from one side or the other of the conflict.”
Lavrov warns of Third World War
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that there is a "real" danger of a Third World War on Russian state media on Monday. Nevertheless, he stressed that Russia would find such a war intolerable and that Russia wants to reduce the "artificial" risks of a nuclear war.
"The danger is serious, it's real, you can't underestimate it," Lavrov told the Russian state news agency Interfax about the risk of a third world war.
Lavrov also accused NATO of “waging war with Russia” through Ukraine. However, he underlined that the war in Ukraine will end with an agreement.
"Everything will of course finish with the signing of an accord," Lavrov said. "But the parameters of this accord will be defined by the state of the fighting that will have taken place at the moment the accord becomes reality,” he added.
Lavrov noted that Moscow will continue peace talks with Kyiv, and even accused Ukraine of "pretending" to negotiate peace.
"Goodwill has its limits. And if it's not reciprocated, it doesn't help the negotiation process," Lavrov said according to Russian news sources. “But we continue to conduct negotiations with the team delegated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and these contacts will continue."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded to Lavrov's comments on Twitter, saying that Russia is unable to prevent third countries from assisting Ukraine in the conflict, which is why it threatens a Third World War.
Russia loses last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine. Thus the talk of a ‘real’ danger of WWIII. This only means Moscow senses defeat in Ukraine. Therefore, the world must double down on supporting Ukraine so that we prevail and safeguard European and global security.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 25, 2022
US to beef up Ukraine's war efforts
US Secretary of Defense will lead efforts to bolster Ukraine's armed forces as Moscow claims that NATO is fighting a proxy war against Russia.
The US is set to host a group of over 40 countries on Tuesday to discuss increasing defence measures for Ukraine to allow to weaken the Russian onslaught, according to US officials.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will hold the gathering at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, just after a trip to Ukraine where he promised increasing support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"The next several weeks will be very, very critical," said US Army General Mark Milley, when speaking to France 24. "They need continued support to be successful on the battlefield. And that’s really the purpose of this conference."
