UN Chief Antonio Guterres will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin today

Antonio Guterres, U.N. Secretary-General will be visiting Russia for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to try to convince him to agree to a pause or end his two-month assault on its neighbor, Ukraine. The spokesperson of the Secretary-General of the United Nations informed that the U.N. chief will later be visiting the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv on Thursday to meet with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy because Guterres feels there is a “concrete opportunity” for progress.

On his way to the Russian Capital, Guterres on Monday met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, who has earlier attempted to mediate an end to the fighting between Turkey’s two neighbors. It is estimated that the talks between Putin and Guterres will be focused on the besieged city of Mariupol where, despite announcing a victory, Russian forces have failed to take over the Azovstal steelworks. On Thursday, Ukraine forces informed that Russia continued to blockade its units at the steel plant. Ukraine has requested Guterres to guarantee a humanitarian corridor in a bid to safely evacuate civilians sheltering inside Azovstal.