Secretary-General's remarks at a press conference following his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov [unofficial transcript]

It's a great pleasure and honour for me to visit [the Russian Federation] for the first time as Secretary-General of the United Nations, while I have been enjoying visiting Moscow many times in previous capacities. During my brief visit this time, I was very much impressed and encouraged by the strong commitment rendered by Russian government leaders, President [Vladimir] Putin and President-elect [Dmitry] Medvedev and my dear colleague Minister Lavrov. During my meetings yesterday with the President and the President-elect I was strongly encouraged by their commitment to the central role of the United Nations and to multilateralism.

As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I am very grateful for the strong support and cooperation of [the] Russian Government on all matters [concerning] the United Nations, whether on issues of climate change, development, counterterrorism, peace and security, or peacekeeping operations. Russia is one of the largest contributors in terms of financial contribution and also peacekeeping operations. But with developments in the economy, as well as a higher political profile, I hope that Russia can do more. This is [what] I have expressed, my wishes, to Russian leadership, and also during my address to students at the Moscow State University.

As Mr. Lavrov has just said, we had a very constructive meeting, and we touched on many important issues of mutual concern –the situation in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Darfur and also Kosovo. We are going to discuss other matters over dinner after this press conference.

As I expect there will be questions raised to me, I will not repeat what I discussed with him [Foreign Minister Lavrov]; he mentioned some regional issues. And this morning I had a unique opportunity of meeting business leaders of Russia, as part of launching the UN Global Compact [network in this country]. I was very much impressed by the commitment that business leaders have expressed to cooperate with the United Nations, to promote our shared values.

While expressing my sincere appreciation for the kind hospitality and for the very useful discussions I had with the Russian leaders, I assured the government of the Russian Federation and its people, that the United Nations highly values such a strong partnership between the United Nations and the Russian Federation, and I count on such continued cooperation and support in the future. Thank you very much.

Q: What is your opinion about the proposal made by the Georgian side to substitute the current peacekeeping forces in the area of the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict by joint Georgian-Abkhazian police forces?

SG: The situation between Georgia and Abkhazia is of course a great concern for me. The dialogue on the practical terms of the security situation, as well as on confidence-building measures, is lacking. The United Nations will continue to assist and facilitate the ongoing dialogue so that this tension could be reduced through peaceful dialogue. The immediate priority is to try to stem all these tensions in that country. Even small practical progress will be critically important. I sincerely hope that the parties concerned will implement the proposals and recommendations made by the Group of Friends. The Security Council, I understand, will review my report about the situation next week, on April 14. We will closely monitor the situation and will do everything possible to facilitate the peaceful resolution of this issue.