GENEVA (Reuters) – Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has arrived in Kyiv on a planned five-day visit to Ukraine to insist on greater humanitarian access and protection of civilians, the organisation said on Wednesday.
“After enormous suffering by the civilian population and after our intensive virtual conversations with the Russian and Ukraine governments, I find it utterly important that we have person-to-person contacts, that we are able to go in-depth into the understanding of neutral, independent and impartial humanitarian work, and that our licence to operate in the country is fully understood by the authorities,” Maurer said in a statement that added he continued his regular humanitarian dialogue with government officials in Moscow as well.
Maurer had told Reuters this month that he was “cautiously positive” the ICRC would gain access to Ukrainian and Russian prisoners held in the context of the conflict.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Writing by Michael Shields; Editing by Toby Chopra)
