Antonio Guterres pleads for a 4-day Easter humanitarian pause in Ukraine
April 20, 2022, 7:41 am

Antonio Guterres pleads for a 4-day Easter humanitarian pause in Ukraine

Antonio Guterres/facebook

The Arab News reported, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has made a plea for a four-day Holy Week humanitarian pause in the war in Ukraine beginning on Holy Thursday and running through Easter Sunday, April 24, to allow for humanitarian corridors, warning that the destruction and human loss seen so far “could pale in comparison to the horror that lies ahead.”

Guterres said: “In five days, Ukrainians and Russians will mark Easter. This holiday (is) a time for reflection on the meaning of suffering, sacrifice, death, and rebirth. But this year, Holy Week is being observed under the cloud of a war that represents the total negation of the Easter message.”

Speaking as Russian and Ukrainian troops engaged in a long-awaited battle in the east of Ukraine on Tuesday, Guterres said that “the terrible concentration of forces and firepower” makes this battle more violent and destructive,” and warned that the civilian loss the world has witnessed so far “could pale” in comparison with the horrors that lie ahead.

On April 19, Russia hit over 1,200 Ukrainian targets with missiles, airstrikes and artillery (Photo: Euromaidan Press)

“This cannot be allowed to happen,” Guterres told reporters in New York. “Hundreds of thousands of lives hang in the balance.”

Many good-faith efforts by many parties to reach a cease-fire in Ukraine have failed.

Lamenting the failing efforts by many parties to reach a cease-fire in Ukraine, the UN chief said that the humanitarian pause is necessary to allow safe passage of all civilians fleeing the areas of confrontation, and the delivery of life-saving aid to the hardest-hit areas, such as Mariupol, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk.

Russia hits over 1,200 Ukrainian targets with missiles, airstrikes and artillery

According to the UN, more than 12 million people need humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, with Guterres anticipating the numbers to rise to about 16 million, or 40 percent of Ukrainians still in the country.

He again called on Russians and Ukrainians to silence the guns and begin to forge a way toward peace and safety. He also urged “all champions of peace around the world” to join his Easter appeal.

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Guterres added: “Save lives. Stop the bloodshed and destruction. Open a window for dialogue and peace and keep faith with the meaning and the message of Easter.”

Source: arabnews

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.