United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gestures as he attends a news conference in Beirut, Lebanon December 21, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 14 (Reuters) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke separately on Monday with the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine and still believed “according to his own analysis , his own hopes” that there would be no conflict, a UN agreement the spokesman said.

The UN has no plans to evacuate or move out of Ukraine any of its more than 1,600 staff – including 220 foreigners and more than 1,400 Ukrainians – the spokesman also said. UN, Stéphane Dujarric.

He expressed “serious concern” on Monday during his phone calls with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba over rising tensions.

“He welcomed the ongoing diplomatic discussions to defuse these tensions and underlined, once again, the fact that there is no alternative to diplomacy,” Dujarric said.

Asked if the outreach could signal a greater mediating role for the United Nations, Dujarric said: “The Secretary-General has said that his good offices are always available…It is his duty and his responsibility as Secretary General to be in contact with many parties involved in the current situation.”

Guterres had said for three weeks that he was confident a Russian invasion would not happen.

Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Angus MacSwan

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