Guterres after his conversation with Putin: I would be lying if I said that war would end soon
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who held a phone conversation with Russian President Putin on Wednesday, believes that the end of the war in Ukraine is still a long way off.
This is stated by correspondent of Ukrinform in New York, reports Censor.NЕТ.
"I believe that peace is necessary - peace in accordance with the UN Charter and International Law. But I would be lying if I said that I hope it happens soon," the secretary general told reporters.
He said he spoke with Putin on Wednesday about Ukrainian grain exports, expressing hope that the UN-brokered 120-day agreement Ukraine, Turkey and Russia reached on July 22 would be kept. At the same time, Guterres expressed his wish that it would also apply to Russian ammonia exports.
According to him, the removal of obstacles "that still exist on the export of Russian fertilizers is absolutely necessary. The UN Secretary General noted that talks are underway on the possibility of exporting ammonia from Russia through the Black Sea.
"We risk getting a crisis in the fertilizer market. We have news from different parts of the world where the cultivated areas are much smaller than in the previous cycle, which means that we risk having a real food shortage in 2022," Guterres explained.
In addition, during his conversation with Putin, he raised the issue of the investigation into the explosion in the Olenivka prison, which resulted in the death of over fifty Ukrainian prisoners. Guterres recalled that the UN accepted sending a mission to establish the facts related to this tragedy. The secretary general noted that according to Putin's promises, Russia would not obstruct the mission in any way.
He expressed the hope that all prisoners of war would be exchanged.
Guterres also discussed with Putin the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant seized by Russian troops.
