U.N. Chief to Attend Russian Victory Day despite Criticism
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend celebrations in Moscow on Saturday of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, despite criticism from Ukraine and other central European countries.
Ahead of his visit to Moscow for Victory Day, Ban will travel to Poland to attend commemorations there marking 70 years since the end of World War II and to Ukraine, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin last week told reporters that Ban would be sending "completely the wrong message" by going to Moscow for the Victory Day celebrations.
Klimkin said a visit to Russia would reward a country that has violated "the U.N. charter and a number of key principles which are the cornerstone of the United Nations."
Lithuanian Ambassador to the United Nations, Raimonda Murmokaite, said she was "sympathetic" to Ukraine's concerns, citing Russia's annexation of Crimea and the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine.
The secretary general will hold talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and meet with other heads of delegations attending the Victory Day events.
It was unclear if he plans to meet with Kim Young-Nam, the president of North Korea's parliament.
Ban will travel to the Polish city of Gdansk on Thursday for the World War II commemorations and to hold meetings with President Bronislaw Komorowski.
He will be in Kiev on Friday for talks with President Petro Poroshenko, who is pushing for a U.N. peace mission in eastern Ukraine.
Source: Agence France Presse
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