UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed openness to the possibility of deploying peacekeeping forces to Ukraine once an agreement has been reached to end the war with Russia, which has now dragged on for more than three years.
“We will do everything we can to help end the conflict,” his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, assured Tuesday at a press conference. However, he stressed that any peacekeeping mission would have to be backed by a UN Security Council resolution and that an agreement between the parties to the conflict would be essential before any deployment could be considered.
U.S. and Russia start negotiations in Saudi Arabia
In parallel to Guterres’ statements, there has been an unexpected turn in international diplomacy. The United States and Russia have begun to negotiate a way out of the conflict, according to official sources.
📌 Key negotiation points:
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- Both agreed to move towards the normalization of diplomatic relations and lay the groundwork for future cooperation on geopolitical issues of mutual interest.
- State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce confirmed that the talks are aimed at ending the war in Ukraine as soon as possible.
Zelenski rejects any agreement without Ukraine’s participation
Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenski reacted strongly to the news of the talks between Washington and Moscow. In the framework of his tour of the Persian Gulf, which this Wednesday will take him to Saudi Arabia, Zelenski warned that he will not accept any pact negotiated behind the back of Kiev and its European allies.
“Any solution to the conflict in Ukraine will have to involve both Ukraine and the Russian Federation,” the UN spokesman reminded, underlining Kiev’s position.
The scenario of a diplomatic agreement remains uncertain, but the start of these talks could represent a first step towards a de-escalation of the conflict.
