UN’s Guterres arrives in Russia for controversial BRICS summit

The UN Secretary General has arrived in Kazan, Russia, to attend a controversial summit of developing countries including China and Iran.  

His decision to attend the meeting hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with criticism from Ukraine and its allies, given the ongoing conflict following the 2022 full-scale invasion.  

“This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN’s reputation,” the Kyiv foreign affairs ministry posted on X on Monday based on reports of his attendance, noting that he had declined to attend a peace summit in Switzerland to which Ukraine invited him earlier this year.  

The foreign minister of Lithuania, a noted Russia hawk, has also branded Guterres’ involvement as “unacceptable”.  

The BRICS Summit – named after original members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – has this year expanded to include Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and is meeting in Kazan, Russia over several days this week. 

According to Stewart Patrick, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Guterres may be attempting to forge a peace deal, and shares some of the BRICS’ concerns over the representativeness of international institutions. 

But it would “likely not be well received in Western capitals, because it might be seen as legitimating Vladimir Putin’s Policies,” Patrick told Euronews in an interview on Tuesday.  

Spokespeople for Guterres did not respond to a request for comment.