Members of NGIC call for urgent Baku peace dialogue between Russia and Ukraine

BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 28 Trend: Members of Nizami Ganjavi International Centre (NGIC) call for urgent dialogue between Russia’s and Ukraine, Trend reports. "Our world has been severely impacted over the past two years by the devastating pandemic that has cost millions of lives and ravaged livelihoods and whole societies and economies. Through collective effort, we can bring it to an end," the statement said. "Yet just as hopes were rising of reaching a post-pandemic state, our world was shocked again, on 24 February, when Russia’s military began new moves across Ukraine’s border. The implications are serious for all, particularly for those losing their lives on both sides and those fleeing across borders. Among other impacts will be the effects on the global economy’s capacity to recover from the pandemic. The terrible impacts are immediate and will have painful, wide-ranging effects for years to come," the statement said. "We, as members of the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre (NGIC), headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan, call for urgent dialogue between Russia and Ukraine with a view to ending the hostilities immediately. Time is of the essence. The situation becomes worse and more people lose their lives with every moment that passes. Too many innocent lives are being lost and this situation cannot be allowed to continue," the statement said. "We acknowledge and appreciate the call of the President of Azerbaijan to host both parties for peace discussions in Baku, Azerbaijan. Baku is a neutral venue for such discussions, having already been a platform for a meeting of top Russian and NATO generals for talks on preventing military incidents. We fervently hope the parties will accept this offer and that Baku can play an important role in solving this biggest security crisis which Europe has faced since the end of World War Two," the statement said. Signed: Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia 1999-2007 Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand 1999-2008 Ismail Serageldin, Vice-President of the World Bank 1992-2000 Abdulaziz Altwaijri, former Director-General of ISESCO Farida Allaghi, former Libyan Ambassador to EU Sali Berisha, President of Albania 1992-1997, Prime Minister 2005-2013 Ana Birchall, deputy Prime Minister of Romania 2018-2019 Hikmet Cetin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey 1991-1994, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly 1997-1999, deputy Prime Minister 1995 Robert Cekuta, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan 2015-2018 Maria Fernanda Espinosa, 73rd President of the UN General Assembly, Minister of National Defense of Ecuador 2012-2014, Minister of Foreign Affairs 2017-2018 Susan Elliott, President, National Committee on American Foreign Policy Chiril Gaburici, Prime Minister of Moldova 2015 Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius 2015-2018 Mladen Ivanic, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2014-2018 Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secrertary-General OIC 2004-2014 Ivo Josipovic, President of Croatia 2010-2015 Kerry Kennedy, President Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Zlatko Lagumdzija, Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2001-2002, deputy Prime Minister 2012-2015 Igor Luksic, Prime Minister of Montenegro 2010-2012 Giorgi Margvelashvili, President of Georgia 2013-2018 Moussa Mara, Prime Minister of Mali 2014-2015 Rexhep Meidani, President of Albania 1997-2002 Rovshan Muradov, Secretary-General Nizami Ganjavi International Center Festus Mogae, President of Botswana 1998-2008 Stjepan Mesic, President of Croatia 2000-2010 Francis Martin O’Donnell, SMOM Ambassador (ret.); UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine 2004-2009 Djoomart Otorbayev, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan 2014-2015 Rosen Plevneliev, President of Bulgaria 2012-2017 Petre Roman, Prime Minister of Romania 1989-1991, Speaker of the Parliament 1996-1999, Minister of Foreign Affairs 1999-2000 Hedva Ser, Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO Laimdota Straujuma, Prime Minister of Latvia 2014-2016 Petar Stoyanov, President of Bulgaria 1997-2002 Boris Tadic, President of Serbia 2004-2012 Eka Tkeshelashvili, deputy Prime Minister of Georgia 2010-2012 Raimonds Vejonis, President of Latvia 2015-2019