Guterres welcomes deals to halt energy attacks in Ukraine, Russia

This article is published in association with United Nations.

UN chief António Guterres on Thursday hailed positive announcements from the White House, Kremlin and Kyiv aimed at stopping crippling attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia, linked to Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

“Any ceasefire is welcome because it saves lives, but it is essential that a ceasefire paves the way for a just peace in Ukraine,” the UN Secretary-General said in Brussels, where he also addressed the massive Israeli escalation in Gaza and urged the world not to give up on slowing climate change.

A “just peace” in Ukraine “is a peace that respects the UN Charter, international law and Security Council resolutions, namely about the territorial integrity of Ukraine”, the UN chief stressed, after meeting leaders of the 27 member states of the European Union, during a working lunch as part of a European Summit in Brussels.

His comments followed an earlier statement in which he welcomed further declarations by President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine seeking to extend the ceasefire to the Black Sea – a crucial trade route for food and fertilizer exports to the wider world.

“Reaching an agreement on safe and free navigation in the Black Sea, with security commitments and in line with the UN Charter and international law would be a crucial contribution to global food security and supply chains,” the Secretary-General said, in a statement issued by his spokesperson’s office. 

“It would reflect the importance of trade routes from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation to global markets.”

Key shipping lane

The UN has been heavily invested in ensuring that Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea can happen safely, along with the transport of Russian food and fertilizer, to halt spiralling food prices worldwide and stave off famine in vulnerable countries.

The UN-brokered Black Sea Initiative was agreed by Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye and the UN in Istanbul in July 2022. It allowed more than 30 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs to leave Ukraine’s ports and played an “indispensable role” in global food security, Mr. Guterres said at the time.

A parallel accord was also agreed between the UN and Moscow on grain and fertilizer exports from Russia, known as a Memorandum of Understanding.

In July 2023, the UN Secretary-General expressed his deep regret at Russia’s decision to terminate its involvement in the grain initiative.

“The Secretary-General has consistently supported the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea,” his statement continued, adding that he remains “closely engaged in the continued implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Russian Federation on global food security”.

Gaza killings condemnation

Addressing journalists on the sidelines of high-level discussions at the European Council, Mr. Guterres said that he was “saddened and shocked because deaths and destruction are back in Gaza”, amid confirmation from the Israel Defense Forces that it had begun ground operations in the north of the enclave and “waves of attacks throughout the Strip”.

“The Palestinian people have already suffered too much,” the UN chief insisted, before renewing his appeal for the ceasefire to be respected, for unimpeded humanitarian access to all areas of Gaza and for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages.

“It is absolutely essential to keep the door open for the only way to bring peace to the Middle East, which is to have a Palestinian state side-by-side with an Israeli state,” he continued.  

UNRWA’s Lazzarini speaks out

In a related development, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, expressed his fears for civilians in Gaza on Thursday, “given the ongoing ground invasion separating the north from the south”. 

In an online message warning that the people of Gaza were “again and again going through their worst nightmare”, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini explained that Israeli military evacuation orders were once again impacting tens of thousands of people.

“The vast majority have been already displaced, treated like “pinballs” since the war began nearly 1.5 years ago,” he said.

The veteran humanitarian also condemned the confirmed killing of another five UNRWA staff “bringing the death toll to 284. They were teachers, doctors and nurses: serving the most vulnerable”, he said.

‘Double down’ on climate change

The UN Secretary-General also expressed concern – and cautious optimism – at new UN data highlighting the negative impact on vulnerable communities of climate change.

The latest State of the Global Climate report confirms 2024 as the hottest year since records began 175 years ago, with a global mean temperature of 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels – surpassing the critical warming threshold of 1.5°C for the first time.  

“I am now used to listening time and time again that we are living in the hottest day of the hottest month of the hottest year of the hottest decade. But let’s not give up,” Mr. Guterres stressed. 

“The report also says that the 1.5°C limit is still possible in relation to global warming, but we need to double down; double down in the reduction of emissions, double down in decarbonization and double down in the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy.”