Civilians' plight focus of UN leader's visit

Guterres renews call for end to fighting in Ukraine, amid EU energy concerns

BORODIANKA, Ukraine－The United Nations chief on Thursday renewed a call for an end to hostilities in Ukraine during a visit to the country as part of efforts by the world body to expand humanitarian support for civilians in conflict zones.

The diplomatic activity comes as European leaders find themselves looking at ways to shore up the region's energy security after Russia cut gas supplies to some members of the European Union. Energy giants serving the region are reportedly scrambling to find alternative sources of supply, with some considering whether to pay for Russian gas in roubles－a demand from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

For UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the focus was firmly on the plight of civilians as he visited Borodianka outside the capital Kyiv, an AFP journalist on the scene reported. Guterres arrived in Ukraine late on Wednesday.

Guterres said the UN will continue the work to expand humanitarian support and secure the evacuation of civilians, and he urged the end of hostilities.

"The sooner this war ends, the better－for the sake of Ukraine, Russia, and the world," the UN chief said.

"I imagine my family in one of those houses, now destroyed and black. I see my granddaughters running away in panic. The war is an absurdity in the 21st century."

Osnat Lubrani, a UN coordinator in Ukraine, said on Thursday that she was preparing for a "hopeful "evacuation from the southeastern port city of Mariupol, where Kyiv says injured fighters are trapped.

Guterres was meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later in the visit, which follows talks with Putin in Moscow on Tuesday.

Guterres was also expected to visit Bucha and Irpin, communities that have drawn global attention during the conflict.

Tough response warned

Putin has said that if Western forces, which are supplying increasingly heavy weaponry to Kyiv, intervene in Ukraine, they will face a "lightning-fast" military response.

However, US President Joe Biden asked Congress for new powers to seize and repurpose the assets of Russian oligarchs as part of a new funding request to aid Ukraine. He made the remarks at the White House on Thursday morning.

As the gas row heats up, Austrian energy group OMV, one of the largest importers of Russian gas, is preparing to open rouble accounts at Gazprombank in Switzerland, the Financial Times said on Thursday.

Russian energy giant Gazprom cut gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday after they did not meet Moscow's demand for payment in roubles.

Austria's government said on Wednesday that Russian natural gas deliveries were continuing unrestricted and there was no indication that would change, despite the scramble to find alternative sources.

The Financial Times said Italy's Eni, another of Gazprom's large customers, was evaluating its options. The Italian government-backed company has until the end of May, when its next payment for Russian supplies is due, to make a final call, the newspaper said, citing Italian officials.

An OMV spokesperson told Reuters the company was working on a sanctions-compliant solution but declined to specify whether this meant using rouble accounts as the newspaper reported. Eni declined to comment.

In another development, Russia announced on Wednesday it was withdrawing from the United Nations World Tourism Organization just hours before the body's assembly voted to temporarily suspend the country's membership, officials said.

In developments on the battlefield, Ukraine's General Staff says Russia is increasing the pace of its offensive in the east of the country, with the goal of taking full control of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions and securing a land corridor to Crimea. The Russian forces "are exerting intense fire" in almost all directions, the General Staff said in a Thursday morning update, with the "greatest activity observed in Slobozhanske and Donetsk directions".

Agencies - Xinhua