UN Secretary General Guterres says he sees no end to war in Ukraine in near future

The statement of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from the forum in Davos, Switzerland, is reported by AP, The Guardian and Voice of America.

Antonio Guterres delivered a speech during the second day of the World Economic Forum. 

AP noted that Antonio Guterres is not optimistic about the fighting in Ukraine. "There will be an end to this war. There is the end of everything. But I do not see the end of the war in the immediate future," he said.

"For the moment, I don’t think that we have a chance to promote or to mediate a serious negotiation to achieve peace in the short term," Guterres added.

Voice of America reports that, according to the Secretary General, major geopolitical differences and generational mistrust are undermining efforts to address global challenges, which also include inequality, the cost of living crisis caused by soaring inflation, the energy crisis, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and more.

In particular, Antonio Guterres called current climate change an "existential challenge" and emphasized that the global contribution to stopping the rise in the earth's temperature has "s nearly going up in smoke."

Later, Antonio Guterres tweeted that the world is now facing the most serious levels of geopolitical division and mistrust in generations.

"At Davos, I urged leaders to bridge divides and restore cooperation to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights," his official page reads.

• The World Economic Forum started on January 16 in Davos, Switzerland. This year, there are no Russian representatives at the forum due to the war in Ukraine.

• President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that during the annual forum in Davos, Ukraine would lobby for increased global pressure on Russia.