During the negotiations in Kyiv, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and UN Secretary-General António Guterres discussed the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from the Russian-besieged city of Mariupol in the Donetsk region, including the Azovstal plant.

The Ukrainian Head of State noted that António Guterres discussed this issue during his recent visit to Russia.

“We see that despite the words of the Russian President about the alleged cessation of hostilities in Mariupol, the territory of the Azovstal plant is under barbaric bombing by the Russian army. And this continued even during the talks of the Secretary-General in Moscow”, - Volodymyr Zelensky said.

He stressed that Ukraine is ready for urgent talks to evacuate people from Mariupol and hopes that the participation of the UN Secretary-General in this mission will be effective.

The Head of State also called on António Guterres to make efforts to stop the deportation of Ukrainian citizens to Russia, gain access to the forcibly deported and return them to their homeland as soon as possible.

Answering journalists’ questions, the President expressed hope that with the participation of the UN Secretary-General he would be able to bring people back alive from Mariupol.