Ukraine: “The impact on civilians is reaching terrifying proportions“ - UN Chief Media Stakeout
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United Nations
United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, briefs journalists on Ukraine.
Speaking to journalists in New York, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said on Monday that Ukraine is on fire, with the country being decimated before the eyes of the world.
"The impact on civilians is reaching terrifying proportions. Countless innocent people – including women and children – have been killed. After being hit by Russian forces, roads, airports and schools lie in ruins," Guterres said.
The UN chief also noted that, according to the WHO, at least 24 health facilities have suffered attacks.
According to him, with each passing hour, two things are increasingly clear: the situation keeps getting worse; whatever the outcome, this war will have no winners, only losers. He also provided an update on the activities of United Nations and humanitarian partners, that are working to ensure safe passage from besieged areas and to provide aid where security permits.
With millions of people in Ukraine facing hunger and dwindling supplies of water and medicine, he announced that the United Nations will allocate a further $40 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to ramp up vital assistance to reach the most vulnerable.
The Secretary-General also announced today the establishment of a Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance in the UN Secretariat to deal with the larger implications of the conflict on the wider world. The Deputy Secretary-General will lead an inter-agency steering committee with partners to oversee this effort.
According to the UN chief, though, "this war goes far beyond Ukraine."
"It is also an assault on the world’s most vulnerable people and countries. While war rains over Ukraine, a sword of Damocles hangs over the global economy – especially the developing world," he argued.
Even before the conflict, Guterres said, developing countries were struggling to recover from the pandemic, with record inflation, rising interest rates and looming debt burdens.
"Now their breadbasket is being bombed. Russia and Ukraine represent more than half of the world’s supply of sunflower oil and about 30 percent of the world’s wheat," Guterres added.
Finally, he said, "further escalation of the war, whether by accident or design, threatens all of humanity."
For Guterres, "raising the alert level of Russian nuclear forces is a bone-chilling development."
"The prospect of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility. The security and safety of nuclear facilities must also be preserved. It is time to stop the horror unleashed on the people of Ukraine and get on the path of diplomacy and peace," he said.
In the last couple of weeks, Guterres said, he has been in close contact with a number of countries, including China, France, Germany, India, Israel and Turkey, working on mediation efforts to bring an end to this war.
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