The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky refused UN Secretary General António Guterres a visit to Ukraine because he took part in the BRICS summit in Russia.
This was reported to the AFP news agency by a source in the Office of the President of Ukraine, Barronʼs reports.
At the Russian-hosted BRICS summit in the city of Kazan, Guterres on Thursday "pleaded for a just peace" in Ukraine, calling on Putin in a speech to end the more than two-year war.
But his participation in a meeting of 20 world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, caused outrage in Kyiv. The BRICS summit has become the biggest diplomatic event in Russia since the start of full-scale war in February 2022.
"After Kazan, Guterres wanted to come to Ukraine, but the president did not confirm his visit. Therefore, he will not be here — precisely because of the humiliation of common sense and international law in Kazan," the source told AFP.
At the same time, the UN insists that during negotiations with Putin in Kazan, Guterres repeated that "the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a violation of the UN Charter and international law."
On the eve of these bilateral talks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine criticized Guterresʼ decision to visit Kazan and noted that he was not at the peace summit that Ukraine held in Switzerland in June.
"This is a wrong choice that does not promote peace. This only harms the reputation of the UN," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- BRICS is the union of the largest developing countries in terms of area and population, formed in 2006. The organization includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. BRICS positions itself as an alternative to institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which, as members of the union believe, are dominated by Western countries.
- The BRICS summit was held in Kazan on October 22-24.
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