UN chief to visit Turkey, Ukraine, Moscow, Kiev

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, speaks at UN headquarters in New York on January 20, 2022. ROBERT BUMSTED FILE AP ANKARA ISTANBUL KIEV - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Turkey on Monday before having talks in Moscow and Kiev as part of an effort to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that the secretary-general will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara.

On April 26 and 28, Guterres will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a UN spokesman said Friday.

Guterres will visit Moscow on April 26 and have a working meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, according to Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres.

During his trip to Ukraine, Guterres will have a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and meet with UN agencies to discuss scaling up humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian people, Dujarric said.

Turkey has played a mediator role in order to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as Ankara has close ties with both countries. In March, Turkey hosted foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia, as well as a meeting between the two countries.

On Sunday, Erdogan and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, discussed the latest developments of the Ukraine crisis over the phone.

The evacuation of wounded and civilians from Ukraine's Mariupol, where the situation is getting sadder every day, must be urgently ensured, according to a statement by the Turkish presidential office.

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Zelensky stressed the need for immediate evacuation of civilians from Mariupol, including the Azovstal plant, and an immediate exchange of troops.

The two presidents also addressed issues related to the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Turkey is ready to give all possible assistance to the negotiations process, according to the Turkish presidential office, who said that Turkey has a positive stance on the guarantor issue in principle.

Ukrainian negotiators named several countries, including Turkey, as guarantors after a round of face-to- face talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul in March.