Ukraine on Monday criticized United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres for reportedly accepting an invitation to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week during the international BRICS summit.
Fox Information Digital could not immediately reach the UN for comment on the meeting, but Ukraine's Foreign Ministry took to X to express its displeasure with the alleged meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday and was first announced by Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, according to multiple reports.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Libya summit in Berlin, Germany, January 19, 2020. (Reuters/Axel Schmidt)
“The UN Secretary General rejected Ukraine's invitation to the first International Peace Summit in Switzerland. However, he accepted war criminal Putin's invitation to Kazan,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
“This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace,” the ministry added. “It only damages the reputation of the UN.”
The UN has not confirmed the meeting and in response to reporters' questions on Monday, the general secretary's deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq, said: “Announcements regarding his future travels will be made later.”
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The meeting will be the first between Putin and Guterres in more than two years amid the Kremlin's illegal war in Ukraine, and will take place on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, which Russia is hosting in its southwestern city of Kazan. country, about 500 miles to the east. from Moscow.
BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is an intergovernmental body that was established in 2009 to counter Western influence and strengthen economic partnerships. The bloc has expanded to include five other nations: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 22, 2024. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via Reuters)
The 10 BRICS countries now represent more than a quarter of the world economy and almost half of the world's population. according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Delegates from two dozen other countries will also attend this week, and many nations are also seeking to join the bloc, including NATO ally Turkey, which applied for membership last month.
Leaders from 22 countries will attend the conference, and Putin will reportedly meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, followed by meetings on Wednesday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. and the Turkish president, Tayyip Erdoğan. confirmed Reuters.
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The meeting between Putin and Erdoğan is expected to be closely watched by Western nations, which have grown increasingly tired of Turkey as their leader seeks to expand ties with Moscow amid the war in Ukraine despite fervent condemnation of the invasion by NATO.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives for a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, October 22, 2024. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool via Reuters)
Reports have suggested Turkey is now seeking to join the BRICS association, which is increasingly dominated by major NATO adversaries such as Russia, China and Iran, with possible North Korean membership on the horizon, due to its frustration over the refusal of the European Union to grant Ankara membership.
Although not all world leaders attending this week's summit seem as ambivalent towards Western relations as some, including Modi, who has attempted to toe the geopolitical line when it comes to India's position on the controversial war in Ukraine .
Mode reportedly spoke to Putin before the summit and reiterated that India was ready to see an end to the brutal war through “peaceful means.”
Although New Delhi remains the world's largest buyer of Russian weapons, Modi traveled to Ukraine in August, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenksyy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BRICS Summit in Kazan on October 22, 2024. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via Reuters)
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Not all BRICS leaders will attend the summit. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday canceled his trip to Kazan on the advice of medical officials following an injury at home that resulted in a minor brain hemorrhage, Reuters reported.
Lula da Silva is now expected to attend the summit via video conference.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel also reportedly withdrew for medical reasons related to “severe energy levels.”