Annan to visit Ukraine, Russia, Switzerland and Italy in early June

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, will pay his first-ever visit to Ukraine in early June, a UN spokesman announced today.

During the three-day visit, which begins on 2 June, the Secretary-General will meet with President Leonid Kuchma and Foreign Minister Anatoliy Zlenko, as well as parliamentary leaders and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), spokesman Fred Eckhard told the press at UN Headquarters in New York.

"[The Secretary-General] has intended to visit Ukraine for years, and for one reason or another, it hasn't been able to be scheduled," Mr. Eckhard said. "So it's a long-standing project of his to go Ukraine."

From Ukraine, Mr. Annan will travel to Moscow, Geneva and Rome, the spokesman said. After a two-day visit to Moscow, the Secretary-General will leave on 6 June for Geneva to receive an honorary degree from the University of Geneva, where he did graduate work in economics in 1961 and 1962.

According to the spokesman, Mr. Annan will then head to Rome, where he will address the five-year review conference of the 1996 World Food Summit on 10 June.