"Standard practice": the UN justified Secretary General Guterres' trip to the BRICS summit in Russia

The United Nations tried to justify the trip of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Russia for the BRICS summit. They called it "standard practice."

At the same time, the UN assured that Guterres' position on Russia's war against Ukraine remains unchanged. This was stated by Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General Farhan Haq in a comment to Ukrinform.

According to him, Guterres will take part in a meeting of BRICS leaders and will also meet with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Kazan, Russia, where the event will take place.

"Let me address these two points – the part about his presence (at the BRICS event – Ed.) and the part about his meeting with President Putin," Haq said.

He emphasized that "the secretary general is attending the BRICS summit, as he did earlier in South Africa, as it is standard practice to attend meetings of organizations with a large number of important member states, such as the G7 and G20."

Deputy Spokesperson Guterres also added that "this meeting is of great importance for the UN's work with the BRICS countries, which represent about half of the world's population," so the Secretary-General will use the opportunity to hold a series of bilateral meetings with the leaders who will attend the summit.

At the same time, Haq assured that the UN Secretary-General "looks forward" to meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a time convenient for both sides. Zelenskyy and Guterres reached a preliminary agreement on such a meeting during a meeting in September during the General Assembly's High-level Week in New York.

"As for your question about meeting with President Putin, the Secretary-General will reiterate his well-known position on the war in Ukraine and the conditions for a just peace based on the UN Charter, international law, and UN resolutions," the deputy spokesman said.

Haq assured that Guterres will continue to make efforts to restore safe navigation in the Black Sea, which is critical for global food and energy security.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reacted to the news of the UN Secretary General's trip to the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.

"The UN Secretary-General declined Ukraine's invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. However, he accepted an invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not contribute to the cause of peace. It only harms the reputation of the UN," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in an official statement.

Earlier it became known that the leaders of China, India, Turkey, and even the UN Secretary General are going to Russia for the BRICS summit. Therefore, this event in Kazan, which will last from October 22 to 24, is seen by the Kremlin as a diplomatic "triumph," a demonstration of its resistance to sanctions and the absence of complete international isolation.

The summit will be Russia's largest since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Russian dictator Putin will make the most of it to show that Western attempts to isolate Moscow have failed.

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