“Mr. Lazzarini is visiting Moscow on April 24-25. He will address the BRICS meeting (at the deputy Foreign Ministers' level) and will give latest about Gaza and could meet BRICS deputy foreign ministers, including Russian,” a UN source told Sputnik.
Lazzarini's visit to Russia comes after several countries paused funding for UNRWA amid Israeli allegations that a "significant" number of the agency's staff are members of Hamas and other "terrorist" organizations.
In early February, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed an independent review panel led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna to probe UNRWA's activities for alleged links with Hamas. Colonna's final report, published on Monday, concluded that Israel had provided no evidence to support its claims that UNRWA staff are members of "terrorist organizations."
In January, Israel shared data with UNRWA's leadership on the alleged involvement of some of its staff members in the October 7 Hamas attack and vowed to hold accountable anyone involved in "acts of terror."
A number of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada and Japan, responded to Israel's allegations by suspending funding to the agency. By March, however, many of these nations had decided to resume their funding, though the United States, the agency's largest donor, has not done so.