UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed a statement from the Security Council in support of his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis.
The U.N. Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted its first statement on Ukraine since Russia’s military action began on Feb. 24, expressing “strong support” for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ efforts to find a peaceful solution to the 10-week “dispute.”
The short presidential statement approved at a very brief council meeting Friday does not mention a “war,” “conflict” or “invasion” as many council members call Russia’s ongoing military action, or a “special military operation” as Moscow refers to it. That’s because Russia, which hold veto power in the council, has blocked all previous attempts to adopt a presidential statement which requires unanimity or a resolution.
Instead, the statement “expresses deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine” and “recalls that all member states have undertaken, under the Charter of the United Nations, the obligation to settle their international disputes by peaceful means.”
“The Security Council expresses strong support for the efforts of the secretary-general in the search for a peaceful solution,” the statement says, and requests Guterres to brief members “in due course.”
“Today, for the first time, the Security Council unanimously adopted a peace resolution in Ukraine,” Guterres said in a statement. “The world must come together to silence the guns and protect the values of the United Nations Charter.”
Antonio Guterres recently visited Moscow and Kyiv and opened humanitarian routes to allow civilians to evacuate areas facing heavy fighting.
The new US military aid to Ukraine, announced by Biden on Friday, is worth $ 150m, according to a US official.
