The UN plans to make payments to two million Ukrainians killed in the war, UN Secretary-General Antoniu Guterres said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on Thursday.
Guteresre said the UN was ready for a unique step for the organization – to pay out aid in cash.
“We are ready to provide cash payments. By the end of May, we want to pay 1.3 million people, and by August – two million people. This will be in coordination with the Ukrainian government,” Guteresre said.
The UN usually provides cash assistance only where the government cannot do so. This time, the funds will be paid to the population in the areas where the government operates.
“Our role is not to replace the government, but to support the government, because Ukraine is a developed country,” Guteresre said.
He also acknowledged at the press conference that the UN Security Council had not done enough to “prevent and stop” the Russian war in Ukraine.
Shortly after the press conference, Russian forces shot dead in Kiev on Thursday night, hitting the Shevchenko district twice in the center of the capital. Guteresre, who had met with Russian President Vladimir Putin the previous day in Moscow, said he was “shocked” by the shooting.
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