Ukraine condemns UN chief's 'Wrong Choice' over BRICS summit invite acceptance
- In Reports
- 11:07 AM, Oct 22, 2024
- Myind Staff
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry criticised UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday for agreeing to attend a BRICS summit hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin while declining an invitation to a "peace summit" on the war in Ukraine.
The ministry wrote on the social networking platform X, "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,” the ministry added.
Putin is hosting the BRICS summit in Kazan, in central Russia, starting on Tuesday with the aim of demonstrating the influence of non-Western nations. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are among the leaders present.
Earlier this month, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Guterres had informed Minister Sergei Lavrov during the UN General Assembly last month that he had planned to visit Kazan. In response to a question on Monday about Guterres' attendance, deputy UN spokeswoman Farham Haq responded, saying, "Announcements on his future travels will be later on down the line."
More than 90 nations gathered for a peace conference in a Swiss Alpine resort in June, where they decried Russia's invasion of Ukraine and looked for a solution to put an end to the crisis. However, Russia was not invited and dismissed as meaningless.
Russia has stated that it would not be attending the second summit, which Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelenskiy plans to hold by the end of the year. At that time, Guterres said he would not attend the meeting organised by Switzerland, although the U.N. had a representative there.
Comments