Zelensky blocks UN chief’s visit to Ukraine – AFP

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has rejected a visit to his country by Antonio Guterres after the UN secretary-general attended the BRICS Summit in Russia this week, AFP reported on Friday, citing sources.

Leaders from around the world gathered in Kazan this week for the 16th BRICS Summit. The UN chief’s spokesperson told reporters that the meeting was “of great importance” for the work of the United Nations, with the BRICS countries representing nearly half of the world’s population. It is “standard practice” for the secretary-general to attend “meetings of organizations with significant numbers of important member states,” such as the G7 and G20, the spokesman stated.

A high-ranking source in the Ukrainian presidency told AFP that the UN chief’s Russia trip had triggered fury in Kiev. The unnamed source told the outlet that “after Kazan, (Guterres) wanted to come to Ukraine, but (Zelensky) did not confirm his visit.” 

“So Guterres won’t be here, specifically because of the humiliation of sanity and international law in Kazan,” the source said.

Guterres, who visited Russia for the first time in over two years, held several bilateral meetings with the leaders attending the event. On Thursday evening, the final day of the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the UN chief met behind closed doors, reportedly addressing the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as questions related to global development and the international financial system.

Earlier that day, Guterres addressed the wide-format BRICS Plus/Outreach panel hosted by the Russian leader, with numerous foreign dignitaries in attendance. The UN chief called for a “just peace” in Ukraine as well as an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry previously condemned Guterres’ decision to visit Russia, noting that he had skipped this year’s Swiss-hosted Ukraine ‘peace conference’.

“This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN’s reputation,” the ministry wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.

In June, Switzerland hosted a gathering which revolved around Zelensky’s ‘peace formula’ – a ten-point wish list that Moscow has dismissed as delusional. Russia was not invited to the meeting, which has been widely perceived as a failure, yielding no concrete results.

Russia is ready to return to talks with Ukraine, but only on the basis of the document drawn up in Istanbul in March 2022, when the sides last sat at the negotiating table, according to Putin.

On Friday, the Russian president reiterated that Moscow is ready for “rational compromise” while noting Kiev’s “irrational behavior which is hard to predict.”