Head of Red Cross Mission summoned to Ukrainian FM over “inappropriate statements”

On January 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine summoned Juan Pedro Scherer, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) mission in Ukraine, to discuss some incorrect public statements made by the Committee's leadership.

This was reported by the website of the foreign ministry, according to Ukrinform. "During the meeting, the Ukrainian side expressed deep disappointment with the statement by the regional director

The ICRC on Europe and Central Asia dated January 14, 2026, which, in fact, equates the responsibility of the Russian Federation as an aggressor state and Ukraine, which is defending itself and its people, for human suffering," the Foreign Ministry said.

The Ukrainian side emphasized that, unlike the Russian aggressor, Ukraine strikes exclusively at legitimate military targets of the enemy within the framework of its inherent right to self-defense in accordance with the UN Charter. In this context, any attempts to equate, compare, or draw false parallels between Ukraine and Russia are immoral, erroneous, and completely unacceptable, the ministry stressed.

The Foreign Ministry added that Ukraine expects the Committee to be more persistent in its efforts to ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians illegally detained by the Russian Federation, as well as appropriate public communication.

For their part, ICRC representatives acknowledged the inappropriateness of such attempts to equate responsibility and agreed on the need to improve the Committee's communication approaches in the future. Scherer also noted that he and his colleagues in Kyiv are well aware of the real humanitarian situation and have experienced the consequences of Russian attacks firsthand, the ministry said.

The parties agreed to promote further strengthening of bilateral dialogue, in particular through visits, with the aim of ensuring a deeper understanding by the ICRC of the current humanitarian crisis in Ukraine caused by Russian attacks, and also discussed ways to strengthen the ICRC's efforts to gain access to Ukrainian prisoners of war and detained civilians.

As reported by Ukrinform, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which equated the aggressor with the victim of aggression, shameful.

ICRC Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Ariane Bauer said that strikes on critical infrastructure "in Kyiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, Belgorod, and other areas" left millions of people without electricity, water, and heating amid low temperatures, and stressed that attacks that disproportionately harm the civilian population and deprive it of vital services are prohibited.