UN chief and Russian President agree on key Ukraine evacuation

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin have met one-on-one for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin met one-on-one Tuesday for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the United Nations said they agreed on arranging evacuations from a besieged steel plant in the battered city of Mariupol.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the Russian leader and U.N. chief discussed “proposals for humanitarian assistance and evacuation of civilians from conflict zones, namely in relation to the situation in Mariupol.”

They also agreed in principle, he said, that the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross should be involved in the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel complex where Ukrainian defenders in the southeastern city are making a dogged stand.

Discussions will be held with the U.N. humanitarian office and the Russian Defence Ministry on the evacuation, Mr. Dujarric said.

During the meeting, which the U.N. said lasted nearly two hours, Mr. Putin and Mr. Guterres sat at opposite ends of a long white table in a room with gold curtains bordered in red. No one else was at the table.

Mr. Guterres criticized Russia’s military action in Ukraine as a flagrant violation of its neighbor’s territorial integrity and urged Russia to allow the evacuation of civilians trapped at the steel mill.