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UN chief to visit Moscow for May 9 celebrations - source

The UN press service neither confirmed nor refuted the report

UNITED NATIONS, April 25. /TASS/. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon plans to attend celebrations on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s Victory in the Second World War to be held in Moscow, an informed source in the global organization’s headquarters told TASS.

"The departure to Moscow is scheduled for May 8. In Russia, the secretary general will take part in festive events and will return on May 11," he said.

The UN press service neither confirmed nor refuted the report. Deputy Spokesman to the Secretary General Farhan Haq said most trips were announced closer to the date of departure. He said at the present moment visits to Rome, Vatican and Paris had been announced.

On Thursday, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Ban Ki-moon was expected to attend Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9.

"He was invited to attend the celebrations. We expect him to come," Gatilov said.

"We also expect UNESCO Secretary General Irina Bokova to come [to Moscow,] Gatilov said.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that the Kremlin would publish the list of Victory Day foreign guests in late April.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is on the list of officials invited to Moscow. In this connection assumptions are made that his first meeting with Ban Ki-moon, once the foreign minister of South Korea, could be held in Moscow. However, official sources don’t confirm this.