Guterres travels to Kiev on Wednesday after meeting Putin in Moscow on Tuesday

UN Secretary-General António Guterres will travel to Kiev next Wednesday and will be received by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski, a day after his trip to Moscow, a statement from the UN spokesman said today. 

Guterres will not only see President Zelenski and his foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba; he will also meet with UN agency staff to discuss "how to optimise humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine".

Hours before this announcement, the Secretary General had informed of his trip to Moscow next Tuesday, where he would hold "a working meeting" with the head of Russian diplomacy, Serguei Lavrov, before being received by Putin.

Although it has not been described as a "mediation" mission, this is Guterres' first trip to the two war-torn countries since mid-February, when Russia launched its troops into eastern and northern Ukraine, triggering the largest refugee movement in Europe for decades.

Just a week ago, Guterres proposed to Putin and Zelenski an "Easter truce" on the occasion of Orthodox Easter, which began yesterday and continues until Sunday, but got no response from Russia.

The UN as a whole has been under fire during the war in Ukraine for its inability to stop the war or even reach a truce or an agreement for "humanitarian corridors", mainly due to Russia's veto power in the Security Council as one of its permanent members.