The Kremlin announced on Saturday that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Russia this week, where he will meet with President Vladimir Putin — the first meeting between the two since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Guterres will arrive in Moscow on Tuesday to hold talks with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and will also be received by Putin. The Kremlin gave no further details on the meeting's agenda. Guterres will also meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday to discuss developments in Ukraine. In a statement on Saturday, the UN said that Guterres will meet next Thursday with Zelensky and his FM after his visit to Moscow on Tuesday. Through this initiative, the secretary-general of the UN is trying to relaunch dialogue in order to find a peaceful solution to the escalating war in Ukraine. The UN Chief will also meet with UN staff on the ground to discuss the scaling up of humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine. Guterres and Zelensky have had little communication since the war began, speaking only once over the phone on 26 March. Putin has neither responded to nor reached out to Guterres' phone calls since the UN secretary-general declared the Russian invasion of Ukraine a violation of the UN Charter. Earlier, Lavrov said negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv aiming to find a solution to the conflict were "stalled" after the talks failed to make any clear progress. He also said that the negotiations "are faltering because a proposal Russia presented to Ukrainian negotiators five days ago, which took into account their comments, remains unanswered."
