On May 12, Antonio Guterres will hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
According to TASS, UN Secretary General António Guterres hopes that his upcoming trip to Russia will help strengthen cooperation between the world organization and Moscow.
“I received an invitation to visit Moscow for my annual consultations with the Russian leadership, and of course I accepted it”, – he said.
“Russia is a founding state of the UN and a permanent member of the Security Council, one of the main elements of the UN’s work. My goal is for this visit to contribute to the strengthening of very important cooperation between the Russian Federation and the UN in all spheres of activity – this is ensuring peace and security in all dimensions, sustainable development, in particular, relations between man and nature, climate, preservation of species diversity, the fight against environmental pollution, as well as human rights”.
The UN Secretary General leaves for Russia on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he will hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Among the topics of the meeting – the situation in Syria, Libya and Ukraine.
In addition, Antonio Guterres said that he would be glad to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the high-level week of the General Assembly, if it is held in person.
“If the General Assembly is held in person, which has not yet been determined, I would be very happy to receive President Vladimir Putin in New York to participate in it”, – he said in an interview with Russian media on the eve of his visit to Moscow, answering a relevant question.
“But if it is not fully face-to-face, then I am sure there will be many other opportunities for our meeting, as it has always been in the past”.