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UN chief hopes crisis around Ukraine can be averted

Antonio Guterres said that the situation around Ukraine should be settled by diplomatic means, as other developments would constitute a breach of the international law

UNITED NATIONS, January 22. /TASS/. The situation around Ukraine should be settled by diplomatic means, as other developments would constitute a breach of the international law, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.

"Well, it is clear that my message is that there should not be any military intervention in this context. I think that diplomacy is the way to solve problems," he told reporters on Friday. Of course, any invasion by one country to another country is against international law, and I hope that this, of course, will not happen in the present circumstances. I am convinced it will not happen, and I strongly hope to be right."

He expressed hope that the ongoing Russian-US negotiations would help to ease tensions.

"It is not for me to comment on the details of the positions of the parties in this dialogue that is taking place. What for me is essential is that this dialogue leads to a good solution and that that good solution is that there is de-escalation and that this crisis ends. That is our objective. I've been saying that I strongly hope that diplomacy will prevail," the UN chief continued.

UN mediation

The UN secretary-general went on to say he was always ready to act as a mediator in talks aimed at easing the situation around Ukraine.

"There is a format in which mediation takes place in the context that we are talking about. That format is based on the Minsk agreement and the so-called Normandy Four, and it was always very clear from the members of the Normandy Four - Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine - that this was not a negotiation within a UN framework," he said.

"There has never been an acceptance by the parties to have the UN as a formal mediator in this situation. One thing I can guarantee is that my good offices are permanently available and are permanently available to ease the reduction of tensions," the UN chief continued.

"And on the other hand, I can guarantee that I'm not going to enter into any question of semantics. I simply believe that we need to avoid the worst <…> and I simply believe that we have to find a diplomatic solution," he added.

Situation around Ukraine

Talks in the so-called Normandy format over Ukraine began to be held in June 2014. During special ceremonies on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the allied landings in Normandy during World War II, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany for the first time discussed ways of settling the conflict in Donbass. A number of telephone conversations and summit meetings, as well as contacts between foreign ministers, have been held since then. The latest summit in the Normandy format was held in Paris in December 2019. In the recent months, talks have been held at levels of political adviser and foreign ministers.

A peace settlement of the conflict in Donbass rests on the Package of Measures, known as Minsk-2, that was signed by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising senior representatives from Russia, Ukraine and the European security watchdog OSCE on February 12, 2015, after marathon 16-hour talks between the leaders of the Normandy Four nations, namely Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine. The 13-point document envisages a ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and the people’s militias in the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Lugansk and the subsequent withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of contact. The deal also lays out a roadmap for a lasting settlement in Ukraine, including an amnesty, prisoner swaps, the resumption of economic ties, local elections and constitutional reform to give more autonomy to the war-torn eastern regions.

The plan remains unimplemented to this day, largely due to Ukraine’s stance. Kiev keeps on refusing to act on the political items of the agreement.

The West and Kiev have recently been spreading allegations about Russia’s potential ‘invasion’ of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded," serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such allegations and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have very serious consequences. He also said that Moscow was making all possible efforts to help Kiev settle the Donbass conflict while remaining committed to the Normandy format and the Minsk Package of Agreements.

In the past two weeks, Russia and the United States conducted a series of negotiations to ease tensions.