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Zelenskyy rejects UN chief’s plan to visit Kyiv over Russia trip
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected a plan for the UN Secretary General to visit Kyiv due to António Guterres’s attendance at this week’s BRICS summit in Russia, a Ukrainian official said on Friday (25 October).
Kyiv was enraged by Guterres’s appearance at the event in the city of Kazan on Thursday and his handshake with its host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres comes under fire from many quarters for his Moscow visit, but the EU defended his move.
Guterres – who called for a “just peace” in Ukraine at the BRICS event and has repeatedly condemned the invasion – discussed a visit to Ukraine with Zelenskyy when they met in New York in September, Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said.
Haq said that since then the UN and Ukraine have been trying to work out a “mutually convenient time” for a visit, but that nothing had been decided.
The Ukrainian official, who asked not to be named, said Zelenskyy had now rejected the visit because of the BRICS appearance, without going into further detail.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Guterres’ acceptance of the invitation to attend the BRICS summit had damaged the UN’s reputation.
Zelenskyy condemned the decision to turn up. “Even though some of its officials may choose the temptations of Kazan over the substance of the UN Charter, the world remains structured in such a way that the rights of nations and the norms of international law will always matter,” he said on Thursday.
Guterres has come under fire from many quarters for his Moscow visit, but the EU on Tuesday defended his move.
EU foreign policy spokesperson Peter Stano condemned “Russia’s misuse” of its chairmanship of the BRICS group, noting that there is an arrest warrant for the Russian leader.
“We trust that all participants of the summit in Kazan will use this event to call on Putin once again to immediately end the war against the Ukrainian people,” he said.
The spokesperson also said the EU supports UN chief Guterres, who is attending the summit.
“We trust that he will reinforce the call on Russia and on Putin to completely and unconditionally stop the brutal aggression against the Ukrainian people,” he said.
The summit of BRICS nations, which ended on Friday, was aimed at showcasing the clout of non-Western countries. Other leaders attending included Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
(Edited by Georgi Gotev)
EURACTIV