SECRETARY-GENERAL SPEAKS TO SPECIAL ENVOY, SADAKO OGATA, ABOUT HER TRIP TO MOSCOW, NORTHERN CAUCASUS

Press Release
SG/SM/7227

SECRETARY-GENERAL SPEAKS TO SPECIAL ENVOY, SADAKO OGATA, ABOUT HER TRIP TO MOSCOW, NORTHERN CAUCASUS

The following statement was issued today in Istanbul by the spokesman travelling with Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General Spoke to Sadako Ogata earlier today while she was in Moscow as his Special Envoy to discuss the humanitarian situation in the nothern Caucasus. Mrs. Ogata said the trip was going well. She had held good discussions with Prime Minister Putin, Foreign Minister Ivanov and Minister of Emergency Situations Shoigu. In addition to her meetings in Moscow, Mrs. Ogata visited internally displaced, camps and hospitals in Ingushetia, as well as border crossings and northern Chechnya.

The Special Envoy told the Secretary-General that her talks had provided a good basis for future cooperation between the United Nations and Russian Federation on humanitarian assistance.

The Secretary-General is grateful for the cooperation the Russian authorities have extended to his Special Envoy and looks forward to receiving her report.

* *** *