Davos, 21 January 2023 (TDI): The United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said that there are no chances of mediation and serious negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

He gave this statement during a meeting of the World Economic Forum 2023. It has been a year now of Russia’s belligerent move.

He further added that the UN and his office remained committed to mitigating the crisis Ukrainians experienced. But there is a need to do more. The world is witnessing dramatic and devastating economic impacts, due to this ongoing conflict.

Chopper Crash Incident

In a recent development, the UN humanitarian official in Ukraine, Denise Brown expressed condolences over the helicopter crash in Kyiv that took the lives of 18 people including the country’s Minister for Interior Affairs, Denys Monastyrskyi.

Similarly, the UN Resident Coordinator for Ukraine said that other unnamed Government officials and residents, including children, were killed and injured in the incident at Brovary.

Worlds Apart

The Russian revanchism in Ukraine has violated the UN charter and international law. The UN Secretary-General said that there seemed no possibility of ending this violence.

The two sides have continued to hold different ideas about what the Russian empire was, and what the nationalities were.

He added that this is making it difficult to work on solutions. The solutions, however, must be compliant with international law and respect territorial integrity.

Despite this ongoing conflict, the UN with the support of Kyiv and Moscow, shipped desperately-needed grain and fertilizer, to help the countries facing food insecurities.

Currently, 17.8 million tonnes of commodities have been shipped to Afghanistan, China, Kenya, and Tunisia under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

UN Committed to Peace

To pursue peace negotiations UN engaged with Ukrainian and Russian representatives. The discussions included various issues such as war exchanges and supporting the work of the UN.

It also encompassed supporting the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in securing the stricken Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station and other nuclear sites.

Furthermore, Antonio Guterres said, in a time of great geopolitical divisions and mistrust, this is the responsibility of all to restore cooperation, advance peace, and achieve sustainable development and human rights.

Climate Crisis 

The UN Secretary-General also issued a fresh call for the world’s leaders to focus on the climate crisis. He gave a reminder to the industrialized nations to deliver on their $100 billion climate finance commitment to support developing countries.

Greenhouse gas emissions are growing rapidly. The commitment to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees must be met. Climate action is required otherwise the world would head to a 2.8-degree increase.

He urged that the proper implementation of climate action needs tough political decisions. Otherwise, it would lead to disaster and death. He insisted that corporate leaders and private industry needed to do more in climate action.

Oil Challenge

The UN Secretary-General also highlighted the need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, especially oil. The ecosystem and biodiversity are under grave threat due to the peddling of oil.

He appealed for greater international cooperation and trust-building mechanism to resolve this issue. He also shed light on the division of the world’s biggest economies, the United States and China, and their tussle.  

He said that the differences between both countries is costing $1.4 trillion to the global economy. This would lead to “two different sets of trade rules, two dominant currencies, two internets, and two conflicting strategies on artificial intelligence. This is the last thing we need,” the Secretary-General said.

Antonio Guterres further said that it is essential that both states must engage in meaningful discourse and action on climate, trade, and technology.

Although they differ on human rights and security issues differences would create serious polarization in the future.

North-South Divide

The UN Secretary-General also cautioned that the North-South divide is also deepening because of the frustration and anger over the inequalities.

Such as, during the COVID-19 pandemic, inequalities over vaccine distribution have fueled anger in the Southern world.

The Northern world has been alleged with vaccine hegemony and that they are minting money and creating more spaces between rich and poor countries.

While the Global South is facing an extreme climate crisis, even though they are contributing less to global greenhouse gas emissions.

He also advised multilateral development banks to change their business model, to increase the capacity for assisting poor countries.