Buzzoca

Kolokoltsev’s arrival to participate in the UNCOPS-2024 summit was announced via Telegram by the permanent mission of the Russian Federation to the UN.

In Moscow, the ministry’s spokeswoman, Irina Volk, said today that Kolokoltsev will have bilateral meetings, including with the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix.

The US announced sanctions against Kolokoltsev and other senior Russian officials on February 25, 2022, the day after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

Despite being sanctioned, Kolokoltsev is not on the US Treasury’s list of individuals banned from entering the US.

According to a UN statement, UNCOPS-2024, which takes place from 26 to 27 June, aims to “strengthen international peace, security and development for all through the unifying power and facilitating role of national police and United Nations”.

Quoted by the digital newspaper Kyiv Independent, Volk said today that Kolokoltsev spoke to Lacroix about the Ukrainian attack reported in early June in Sevastopol, occupied Crimea, and asked for a UN assessment.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said, citing unverified information, that Ukraine used U.S.-supplied weapons in the attack, which reportedly killed four people and injured 151.

Kolokoltsev also intends to discuss with Lacroix the rise of “Russophobic sentiments” around the world, Volk said.

The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24, 2022, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since the Second World War (1939-1945).

Ukraine has relied on financial and weapons aid from Western allies, who have also enacted sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy to try to reduce Moscow’s ability to finance the war effort.

Recent months have been marked by large-scale Russian airstrikes against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, while Kyiv forces have targeted targets on Russian territory close to the border and on the Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014.

Already in the third year of war, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been faced with a lack of soldiers and weapons and ammunition, despite repeated promises of help from Western allies, which have since begun to materialize.