Karina Bovsunovskaya10:14, 22.10.24

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted that such a decision only harms the reputation of the UN.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has criticized UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for agreeing to attend the BRICS summit at the invitation of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, but refusing to attend a “peace summit” on the war in Ukraine.

“The UN Secretary General rejected Ukraine’s invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. However, he accepted the invitation to Kazan from the war criminal Putin. This is the wrong choice, which does not contribute to the cause of peace. It only harms the reputation of the UN,” the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted .

In turn , Reuters recalled that the press secretary of the Russian Foreign Ministry had previously reported that Guterres had addressed Minister Sergei Lavrov at the UN General Assembly and noted that he planned to go to Kazan. However, when asked about Guterres’ planned visit, UN Deputy Press Secretary Farham Haq responded:

“Announcements about his future travels will be made at a later date.”

It is known that the peace summit in Switzerland, which took place in June, brought together more than 90 countries. During this meeting, the participants condemned the Russian invasion and sought ways to end the war.

Later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he planned to hold a second summit before the end of the year, but Russia said it did not want to take part. Guterres then said he would not attend the peace summit, but the UN was still represented there, Reuters added.

(c)UNIAN 2024