UN chief comes under criticism in Ukraine for visiting Moscow first

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has come under criticism in Ukraine for visiting Moscow before going to KyivKyiv.

"As for the UN Secretary General's visit, for me <...> it is surprising when foreign leaders or representatives of international organizations, especial such as the United Nations, go first to Russia rather than to Ukraine to see with their own eye what is going on in Ukraine," Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office chief, said in an interview with the Ukraina-24 television channel on Wednesday.

According to Podolyak, representatives of foreign countries and international organisations should go to Russia only after visiting Ukraine. He accused international organizations of weakness and indolence.

"I think we should understand that some international organizations, institutions are quite weak. Some formal words will be uttered that they are ready to act. By thee way, Guterres has already said that he is allegedly ready to organize a trilateral commission to open humanitarian corridors," he said.

"As for me, I think that the positions of many international institutions, which are supposed to address humanitarian or security problems, is, so to say, quite indolent."

Guterres arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday after visiting Poland, where he met with President Andrzej Duda. On Monday, he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. On Tuesday, he visited Moscow and spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin.

In Kyiv, the United Nations chief will have talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba and President Vladimir Zelensky. Key attention will be focused on diplomatic efforts to ensure ceasefire and organize humanitarian deliveries under the UN auspices, first of all, to Mariupol.