UNITED NATIONS, May 13. /TASS/. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres after a video conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed an interest in expanding cooperation of this international organization with Russia, according to the statement made public on Thursday by his press service.
"The Secretary-General thanked President Putin for the hospitality of the Russian Government and people, and for the continued commitment of the Russian Federation in support of the United Nations. The Secretary-General expressed the interest of the UN to deepen its cooperation with the Russian Federation in the three pillars of the Organization’s work - Peace and Security, Sustainable Development, including Climate Change and Biodiversity, and Human Rights," the statement said.
According to the press service, in the conversation with the Russian leader the secretary general "expressed his gratitude for the invitation to visit Moscow." He also "reiterated his congratulations to the Russian Government and people as the country recently marked Victory Day."
The secretary general and the Russian president discussed issues of "multilateralism, solidarity and cooperation" within the framework of fighting the challenges related to the pandemic of the novel coronavirus and climate change, the press service continued. According to it, Guterres and Putin discussed the approaches to resolving "conflicts through political dialogue, mutual respect and understanding."
Guterres is in Moscow on a working visit. On Thursday, he conducted a video conference with Putin. According to the Kremlin press service, they discussed the issues of increasing the role of the UN in international affairs, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the fight against the pandemic and the provision of humanitarian aid to Syria.