Daily Times

Moscow: The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday said he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had discussed the need to protect civilians during Moscow’s operations in Ukraine.

“We certainly also discussed the international humanitarian law and provisions of the Geneva Conventions in regard to conduct of hostilities… that civilians must be protected,” Peter Maurer said at a joint press conference with Lavrov.

Maurer was visiting Moscow after spending five days in Ukraine last week. He said he and Lavrov had a “very substantive discussion”, and that he would also raise the Geneva Conventions that must be respected during a conflict at a meeting with the Russian defence ministry.

These conventions concern prisoners of war and “civilians detained in Russia as well as in Ukraine”, he said, as well as “the issue of dead bodies — civilians and militaries — that need to be repatriated and brought back to the families”. The Russian minister said “we hope the efforts of the ICRC will bear fruit”, calling it an “impartial and independent intermediary”.

“Unfortunately we don’t have any particular basis to rely on conscientious fulfilment by the Kyiv authorities,” he added.