Talks were held in Moscow between the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The organization wants to strengthen the structure in Russia in order to work better in Ukraine
Photo: Maxim Grigoriev / TASS
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has sent a request to open an office in Rostov-on-Don to improve the organization’s work in eastern Ukraine, ICRC President Peter Maurer said at a press conference after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“I would like to enlist your support in terms of strengthening the logistics structure in Russia in order to improve our work in the Donbass and other parts of Ukraine that are under the control of the Russian military. To do this, we sent a request to open an appropriate office in Rostov-on-Don, ”said Maurer (quoted from TASS).
The ICRC President noted that the Red Cross will continue to help the people of Ukraine and Donbass and will work with colleagues on the ground. “We are ready to provide more assistance and meet their humanitarian needs, whatever they may be,” he promised. In addition, Maurer also noted the need to form “teams in Ukraine, which would be sent to the disputed zones.”
The ICRC President emphasized that the Red Cross would continue to be neutral and to put “the people and their needs first”. “I am here to protect people and their needs. We must reconcile them within the framework of the dialogue between the warring parties,” Maurer said. He stressed that the Red Cross will “provide humanitarian assistance in a neutral manner” in order to increase confidence between the parties.
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