United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres. File photoUN, Apr 18UN Secretary General António Guterres expressed his support for Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul in a conversation with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the UN press service said. «On Sunday, the Secretary General spoke with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The Secretary General expressed his unwavering support for the Istanbul process in connection with the war in Ukraine and confirmed the need to create humanitarian corridors for the distribution of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of people,» the message says. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
