UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed recent diplomatic efforts spearheaded by the United States towards a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, his Spokesperson said on Tuesday in New York.

Stéphane Dujarric was responding to a journalist’s question about the meeting held the previous day between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his American counterpart Donald Trump, and several European leaders at the White House.

It followed talks last week between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska.

Engagement and dialogue

“It’s very important that all involved continue to stay actively engaged in what we want to see as an inclusive dialogue to sustain the important momentum that was created to bring an immediate ceasefire and sustainable peace in Ukraine,” he said.

Nearly four years have passed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and more than 13,000 civilians have been killed, UN human rights monitors in the country have reported.  

Dujarric was asked if the Secretary-General had any comment on the possibility of a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian Presidents.

While noting that there is much discussion around “potential dialogues or formats, location”, he said “it is obviously important that those parties who are directly involved in this conflict be able to speak to each other directly.”

Asked what role the UN could play in this process, he said the global body will be “supportive and ready to engage in a role that may or may not be given to us based on the principles that the Secretary-General has often reiterated.”

When pressed about whether UN peacekeepers could be deployed to Ukraine,  Dujarric stressed that “any peacekeeping mission anywhere would have to go through the Security Council.”