The head of the Red Cross representative office in Ukraine Stefan Sakalyan stated that his organization needs to remain neutral for the sake of trust and the continuation of missions, and spoke about their special approach.
He said this in an interview with Babel.
According to Sakalyan, in Ukraine, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works with many departments and ministries and maintains "very good relations" with them.
"If some of the authorities are dissatisfied with the fact that we are not given access to prisoners of war, it is important to say that this is only one of the areas of our activity. And he is one of the most difficult," he emphasized.
Answering the question why, despite the powers granted to the ICRC by the Geneva Convention, the organization still cannot get access to Ukrainian prisoners, Stefan Sakalyan said that he understands the seriousness of the problem.
"We are not only well aware of this problem, but also take it very seriously, because we see the suffering of families. Perhaps the problem is that our special approach is sometimes perceived as if we are not doing anything," he noted.
Sakalyan is sure that the International Committee of the Red Cross should be very careful not to be "pushed into politics."
"We need trust to gain access step by step, bit by bit. If we start making loud statements, engage in advocacy, work as associations of human rights defenders, we will not be able to do what we should," he said, adding that everyone should play their role.
"Ours is not to point fingers, but to carry out tasks. And this is difficult to perceive not only in Ukraine, but also in many other countries," Sakalyan emphasized.