UN Secretary-General concludes his official visit in Moscow

21-23 April 2011

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Moscow from Kiev on Thursday 21 April 2011 and upon arrival visited the UN in Russia supported Centre of Curative Pedagogues where UNICEF implements its project on inclusive education for children with disabilities. On Friday the Secretary-General conducted meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and the President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev. Later he addressed the enlarged session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Permanent Council.

The Secretary-General and the President discussed current situation in Libya and touched upon the perspectives of conducting Moscow conference on Middle East settlement.

Ban Ki-moon stressed that Russia has a special role to play in addressing regional and global challenges such as climate change, sustainable development, the food crisis, as well as the situations in the Middle East, Libya, Cote d'Ivoire and the Korean Peninsula.

During the meeting Ban Ki-moon and Dmitri Medvedev shared their views on urgent need to renew six-sided negotiations on nuclear issue at the Korean Peninsula. The interlocutors discussed the perspective of having an international conference on Middle East in Moscow. Special attention was paid to problems of nuclear security in the context of the recent accident at the atomic power plant “Fukushima Dai-ichi”.

At his meeting with Sergei Lavrov the Secretary-General discussed a number of issues related to coordination of international efforts in safe use of peaceful atomic power, and in this relation the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). They touched upon piracy problem near the East Coast of Africa. The exchange of views took place on such questions as settlement at the Korean Peninsula, including humanitarian assistance, as well as the situation around Kosovo.

During the press-conference Ban Ki-moon called attention of journalists towards global governance, climate change and sustainable development emphasizing the importance of international cooperation in these areas. “These challenges do not have boundaries” – noted the Secretary-General. He highlighted that he counts on active engagement of Russia in preparing and conducting the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro.

The UN Secretary-General stated that he feels encouraged by the negotiations in Moscow. He praised Russia’s efforts in addressing global challenges.

The article is based on materials of the UN News Centre