UNITED NATIONS, May 12. /TASS/. The recent initiatives on a ceasefire in Ukraine and potential direct talks between Moscow and Kiev look encouraging, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said.
"We're still trying to get some more details of what may happen, but I can tell you that we're, of course, encouraged by the recent initiatives that are pushing for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine and the potential direct talks between the Russian Federation and Ukraine," he said.
According to Dujarric, the United Nations is ready to "support any and all meaningful initiatives to that end."
When asked whether UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is currently visiting Europe, could travel to Istanbul on Thursday where Russian and Ukrainian representatives are expected to meet, he said that UN chief is addressing many matters and suggested that one should wait and see what happens.
Speaking to reporters in the Kremlin on May 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited the Kiev authorities to resume the direct talks they broke off in 2022 without any preliminary conditions. He proposed to launch a dialogue on May 15 in Istanbul. The Russian leader recalled that Russia had declared ceasefires more than once but all of them, including the latest three-day V-Day truce, were violated by the Kiev regime.