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UN Chief Urges States to Focus on Crisis Solutions, Not Border Controls

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi talks to reporters during a visit to the Jdeidat Yabus border crossing in southwestern Syria as displaced people arrive from Lebanon on October 7, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi talks to reporters during a visit to the Jdeidat Yabus border crossing in southwestern Syria as displaced people arrive from Lebanon on October 7, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
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UN Chief Urges States to Focus on Crisis Solutions, Not Border Controls

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi talks to reporters during a visit to the Jdeidat Yabus border crossing in southwestern Syria as displaced people arrive from Lebanon on October 7, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi talks to reporters during a visit to the Jdeidat Yabus border crossing in southwestern Syria as displaced people arrive from Lebanon on October 7, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

The head of the UN refugee agency on Monday urged countries to focus on solutions to crises and to drop measures to block refugees and migrants at their borders, saying they are ineffective and sometimes illegal.
Addressing over 100 diplomats and ministers in Geneva at UNHCR's annual meeting, Filippo Grandi said an unprecedented 123 million people are displaced around the world, Reuters reported.
"You might then ask: what can be done? For a start, do not focus only on your borders," he said, urging leaders instead to look at the reasons people are fleeing their homes.

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Ukraine Says It Will Work with US Towards Mutually Acceptable Minerals Deal

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha attends a joint press conference after a meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys (not pictured) in Kyiv, Ukraine, 01 April 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha attends a joint press conference after a meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys (not pictured) in Kyiv, Ukraine, 01 April 2025. (EPA)
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Ukraine Says It Will Work with US Towards Mutually Acceptable Minerals Deal

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha attends a joint press conference after a meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys (not pictured) in Kyiv, Ukraine, 01 April 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha attends a joint press conference after a meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys (not pictured) in Kyiv, Ukraine, 01 April 2025. (EPA)

Ukraine will work with the United States towards a mutually acceptable text of a minerals deal that the two countries can sign, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Tuesday.

Sybiha told a press conference that one round of consultations had already taken place on a new draft of the minerals deal and that an agreement providing for a strong American business presence in Ukraine would contribute to his country's security infrastructure.

"This process will continue and we will work with our American colleagues to reach a mutually acceptable text for signing," Sybiha said.

The statement came after US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants to back out of the deal, warning that the Ukrainian leader would face big problems if he did.

Washington proposed an expanded minerals deal to Kyiv after the two sides failed to sign the framework deal during Zelenskiy's visit to the US in late February which ended with Trump berating him in the Oval Office.

The revised proposal would require Kyiv to send Washington all profit from a fund controlling Ukrainian resources until Ukraine had repaid all American wartime aid, plus interest, according to a summary reviewed by Reuters.

Zelenskiy said on Friday that Ukraine would not accept any mineral rights deal that threatened its integration with the EU, but that it was too early to pass judgment on the revised deal.