UN Secretary-General, antónio Guterres endorsed the appeal of the Chairman of the Duma Committee on international Affairs Leonid Slutsky to the politicians in EU, US and inter-parliamentary organizations with a call to abandon the policy of sanctions and unite to combat the pandemic coronavirus. The text of the letter is at the disposal of TASS.
"I share your views on the need for international cooperation in the fight against certain aspects of this global challenge. I urge the States members of the United Nations, including the Russian Federation, to support each other in the struggle with the biggest crisis of our time in the field of health, including through funding a Global plan for humanitarian response, launched in March 2020", – said in a letter to the Secretary General of the world organization.
He recalled that in his letter to the leaders "of the group of twenty" dated March 26, he also "urged to refrain from applying sanctions that could undermine the ability of States to respond effectively to the pandemic," repeating this thesis in a briefing with members of the G20 March 27. Guterres previously also supported the statement of the UN high Commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, in which she called "the review of a broad sectoral sanctions against countries faced with the coronavirus, in order to avoid the destruction of health systems of any country".
Guterres thanked Slutsky’s letter of April 24, 2020, in which the head of the Duma Committee shared "considerations about the unprecedented challenges facing humanity in pandemic COVID-19, including about the negative consequences of unilateral sanctions." "In this context, I have the honour to refer to my letter to his Excellency the permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vitaly A. Nebenzia on the same subject, in which I expressed solidarity with the governments and people around the world in the face of this crisis" – said the Secretary General.
"I intend to continue in public and in private to take an active part in addressing these issues, concluded the UN Secretary General. – Hope for the support of the government and State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to our joint efforts to combat the devastating pandemic and the safety and prosperity of all mankind".
In his address, the Slutsky appealed "to all sensible politicians" in the leadership of the European Union, the USA, the UK, the leading international, inter-parliamentary and public organizations to desist from destructive sanctions policy.
