MADRID (Reuters) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said he sees no immediate chance of reaching a general ceasefire in the Ukraine war as both sides are convinced they can win, according to an interview published on Tuesday by the Spanish newspaper El País.
Guterres, who is in Spain to receive the Carlos V European Award, told El País that the UN is focused on talks with Russia and Ukraine to resolve specific problems, such as the extension of the Black Sea grain agreement, which expires on May 18.
“Unfortunately, I think that a peace negotiation is not possible at the moment. Both sides are convinced that they can win,” Guterres said.
“At the moment I don’t see any chance of getting immediately – we’re not talking about the future – a global ceasefire,” he added.
Russian forces launched a new attack on Ukraine on Tuesday, as Russia marked the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, and Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 23 of the 25 missiles fired, mainly at the capital Kiev, sources said. officers.
The attack – the fifth in May – came a day after Russia launched its biggest swarm of drones in months, attacking Kiev and the Black Sea city of Odessa and bombing other cities, as Ukraine prepares to a big counteroffensive.
Asked about the mediation efforts of China or the Brazilian leader Lula, Guterres stressed that achieving peace in the conflict is not possible at the moment, although he hoped that “in the future it will (be)”.
He also praised Beijing’s stance that nuclear escalation is “unacceptable,” calling it “very important to avoid a temptation that would be an intolerable absurdity.”
Nuclear tension has risen since the Russian invasion, as President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that Moscow is ready to use its nuclear arsenal, if necessary, to defend its “territorial integrity”.
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Spanish editing by José Muñoz)
