"My message is that there should be no military intervention, diplomacy is the way to solve problems," said the United Nations Secretary General in answering a question about a possible armed confrontation in Ukraine.
At a press conference on the priorities of his work agenda by 2022, António Guterres said that any invasion from one country to another transgresses international law and hoped that it does not occur in current circumstances.
"I am convinced that it will not happen and I hope to be right," he said.
Regarding a possible UN mediation to reduce tensions, Guterres recalled that the Normandy format is the mediation protocol in the case of Ukraine, based on Minsk's agreement, and that its members -Germany, France,Russian and Ukraine- have always been very clear in their intention that it is negotiated outside the United Nations framework.
"There is no resolution.The parties have never accepted the UN as a formal mediator in this case, ”he said and then clarified that his good offices are always available to reduce tensions.
He insisted that it is necessary to “avoid the worst, as is called;We must find a diplomatic solution so that it does not happen ".
Lavrov and Blinken
Asked about the meetings in Geneva among Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, to talk about Ukraine, Guterres advocated that they lead to a good solution.
“And that good solution for me is to reduce the climb and that this crisis ends.I really hope that diplomacy is imposed, ”he said.
He added that all parties must contribute to creating conditions for a diplomatic solution of the problem and avoiding confrontation that would be extremely negative for the world.
ONU/Mark GartenEl Secretario General António Guterres plantea a la prensa las prioridades de la ONU para 2022.Worse than cold war
When he was inquired if humanity was on the edge of a second cold war, the UN holder considered no, but warned that the current situation in the world is more fragile than then.
“Today we witness a new form of confrontation that would not be called a cold war or war.It is not similar to the cold war because the cold war had certain rules, it was between two structured blocks and each of them had military alliances and there were clear rules and precise mechanisms for conflict prevention, ”he argued.
Guterres explained that this world really "never warmed up" because there was a certain level of predictability.
"What we have now is much more chaotic, much less predictable, we have no instruments to deal with crises and this makes us live in a dangerous situation," he said, struggling for finding formulas to avoid confrontations that would be disastrous for everyone.
No to the bipolar world
Regarding the technological war between the United States and China, the secretary general once again stressed the urgency of avoiding the division of the world into two poles, each with its economic system and rules, currencies, internet, technological strategies,artificial intelligence and others.
“We need unity, we need a global market and unified economy.There are currently differences and I have advocated the United States and China to see the importance of serious dialogue and negotiations on trade and technology, fields in which the two countries have different positions, ”he said.
He added that these negotiations should serve to overcome these difficulties and establish a global market "in which we will all cooperate and benefit ourselves".