Activities of Secretary-General in Ukraine, 8 May

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew on Friday, 8 May, from Gdansk, Poland, to Kyiv, Ukraine, to attend the commemorations for the seventieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

At an event at the “National Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” with President Petro Poroshenko, the Secretary-General said that Ukraine had contributed and sacrificed immensely during the War, a fact that the world cannot and will never forget.  He added that as we recall the huge price of victory over fascism, we renew our solemn promise that the sacrifice of the fallen will not be in vain.

The Secretary-General then attended a commemorative Special Session of the Parliament of Ukraine.

In the afternoon, he met with Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Prime Minister of Ukraine, with whom he discussed the way forward for resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine, based on the Minsk agreements and Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.  The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister also discussed the critical reforms currently undertaken by the Government.

The Secretary-General met with the United Nations country team working in Ukraine before leaving in the evening for the Russian Federation, to participate in the celebration of “Victory Day” in Moscow.