UNITED NATIONS (AP) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he is heading to Myanmar hoping to meet with the country’s military leaders to press for speedy relief for the hundreds of thousands of cyclone survivors who haven’t received any help.

“This is a critical moment for Myanmar,” he told reporters before going to the airport. “We have a functioning relief program in place, but so far have been able to reach only 25 percent of Myanmar’s people in need.”

He said he is confident aid can be stepped up quickly and he welcomed the government’s “recent flexibility” in allowing Asian relief workers under the auspices of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to begin distributing international aid supplies.

The United Nations has received permission from Myanmar’s government to operate nine World Food Program helicopters, “which will allow us to reach areas that have so far been largely unaccessible,” Ban said.

“I believe further similar moves will follow, including expediting the visas of relief workers seeking to enter the country,” he said. “I’m confident that emergency relief efforts can be scaled up quickly.”

British Foreign Secretary David Milliband said that “what is most important is whether there is change on the ground.”

Milliband spoke to reporters after presiding at a Security Council meeting on peace-building. At the start of the meeting, he asked members to stand in memory of those who died in the cyclone and in the Chinese earthquake.

At least 78,000 people were killed in the May 3 storm in Myanmar and 56,000 remain missing. European Union nations have warned that Myanmar’s junta could be committing a crime against humanity by blocking aid intended for up to 2.5 million survivors faced with hunger, homelessness and possible disease outbreaks.

Ban is scheduled to begin a two-day tour of Myanmar on Thursday. He said it would include a visit to the hard-hit Irrawaddy River delta and meetings with junta leaders, U.N. officials and relief workers.

Asked whether he would see the junta’s top leader, Ban said, “I hope I will be meeting Senior Gen. Than Shwe and other senior government officials.”

The general has refused to take calls from Ban and has not replied to several letters pressing for international aid and foreign aid workers to be allowed into Myanmar.

After spending a day in Thailand, Ban is to return to Yangon on Sunday for an international donors conference to discuss Myanmar’s needs for rebuilding.

Ban noted that Myanmar’s foreign minister has estimated losses at more than $10 billion.

“The economic effects of the natural disaster that has struck Myanmar could be more severe and longer lasting than the 2004 tsunami,” Ban said.

AP-ES-05-20-08 1854EDT