UN Secretary-General António Guterres arrived at the BRICS Heads of State Summit, held in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan in the Russian Federation, with Vladimir Putin also in attendance. Ukraine has strongly criticized Guterres' decision.
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"The UN Secretary General declined Ukraine's invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. He did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN's reputation," said a statement from MFA of Ukraine.
On the eve of his visit to Kazan, Guterres' spokesperson, Farhan Haq, stated that the UN Secretary-General is set to meet with the Russian president. When asked what António Guterres plans to discuss with Vladimir Putin, Haq responded that he would reaffirm "his known positions" on the terms of war and a just peace in Ukraine, based on the UN Charter, international law, and UN resolutions. Additionally, Guterres will address the need to restore safe navigation in the Black Sea, which is crucial for global food and energy security, particularly for the world's most vulnerable countries.
Guterres last visited Russia in April 2022, shortly after the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine. After talks with Putin, he traveled to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The BRICS summit is being held in Kazan from October 22 to 24. During the summit, Vladimir Putin has already met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. He is also scheduled to meet with the presidents of Iran and Turkey, Masoud Fezeshkian and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are also attending the summit.
BRICS is an intergovernmental organization created in 2006. The acronym represents the first letters of the names of five countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The goal of BRICS is to compete economically with the developed countries of North America and Western Europe and to achieve dominance in the global economy. From January 2024, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will become members of the organization.
