UN makes statement on Guterres' visit to Ukraine
Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to meet with UN Secretary-General António Guterres due to his visit to the BRICS summit. However, the UN did not confirm this information, reports Suspline.
Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Farhan Haq did not confirm that Guterres's visit to Ukraine was canceled by Kyiv because of the BRICS summit.
Backstory
Today, media reported that Zelenskyy rejected Guterres's visit to Ukraine allegedly due to his participation in the BRICS summit.
Later, sources from RBC-Ukraine in the President's Office confirmed this information.
"After Kazan, (Guterres) wanted to visit Ukraine, but the president did not confirm his visit. Therefore, Guterres will not be here, partly due to the disregard for common sense and international law seen in Kazan," said a source in the Ukrainian President's administration.
During talks with Putin in Kazan, Guterres reiterated that the "Russian invasion of Ukraine was in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law".
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry criticized Guterres’ decision to visit Kazan, pointing out that he did not attend a peace summit organized by Ukraine in Switzerland in June.
BRICS summit
BRICS is an association of the largest, most populous developing countries. It includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, among others.
A BRICS leaders' summit took place in Kazan, and a large number of Global South representatives were also invited. Attendees included UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
