No Ukraine humanitarian ceasefires soon, possibly in coming weeks -U.N. aid chief

FILE PHOTO: United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths makes declarations to the media after a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Threats to International Peace and Security, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in New York City, U.S., March 7, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Humanitarian ceasefires between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Ukraine are not on the horizon right now, but may be possible in a couple of weeks, the U.N. aid chief said on Monday.

Martin Griffiths made the comments in a briefing to reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York on his attempts to arrange local ceasefires in Ukraine so that desperate civilians could be evacuated from embattled areas and to provide badly needed assistance.