President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mr. Peter Maurer, has arrived Moscow to continue the ICRC’s ongoing humanitarian discussions with the Russian authorities. Mr Aliyu Dawobe, ICRC’s spokesman, confirmed this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.
Dawobe said that Maurer planned to speak about the pressing humanitarian issues to be addressed to alleviate suffering of people affected by the conflict in Ukraine.
“The devastation caused by the conflict in recent weeks, as well as eight years of conflict in Donbas, has been vast. There are practical steps guided by international humanitarian law that the parties must take to limit the suffering.”
“I was in Kyiv last week and I’m in Moscow this week to continue the discussion with the authorities on these steps,” he qouted Maurer saying.
Dawobe said that humanitarian issues in places such as Syria or in relation with the consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were also on the agenda, a continuation of a long-running dialogue.
According to him, Maurer plans to meet with representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence.
Dawobe said that the ICRC president would also meet with the chairman of the Russian Red Cross, which was doing significant work providing assistance to those who arrived in Russia after fleeing from their homes in Donbas.
He said that ICRC was seeking to increase the respect of international humanitarian law and work within its mandate as neutral and impartial intermediary to address humanitarian issues.
Dawobe said that Maurer would also facilitate dialogue between all sides.
“To meet the growing humanitarian needs, the ICRC is massively scaling up its work, including moving in additional assistance and specialists.”
“For the humanitarian response to be more effective, neutral and impartial humanitarian space must be agreed upon and respected so this much-needed assistance reaches those in need,” he said.
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