UN Refugees Commissioner Calls Russia ‘Key Partner’ of UNHCR

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi stated that Russia is a key partner for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) regards Russia as an important partner, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Wednesday during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, underscoring the importance of his visit to Moscow.

"I cannot stress more and I am glad to be able to publicly [stress] the importance of my visit here. It was overdue. Finally, it worked now. For us the Russian Federation is a key partner," Grandi said.

On Tuesday, Grandi held a meeting with Russia's Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov, where he stressed that the UNHCR would like to make cooperation with the Russian Emergencies Ministry more global.

The UN commissioner's February 21-22 visit is aimed at discussion of deeper humanitarian cooperation with Russia, Grandi's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told Sputnik.

According to the latest UNHCR’s report dubbed "Global Trends 2015," record 65.3 million people were displaced and 21.3 million were considered refugees in the world.