The decision of the Portuguese UN Secretary-General António Guterres to attend the summit hosted by Vladimir Putin was met with criticism from Ukraine and its allies.
The UN Secretary-General arrives in Kazan, Russia, to attend the BRICS summit, which includes China and Iran.
His decision to attend the meeting hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin was met with criticism from Ukraine and its allies given the ongoing war after a full-scale invasion in 2022.
"It is a bad choice that does not benefit the cause of peace. It only damages the reputation of the UN," Kiev's foreign ministry said on X on Monday, following reports that he had refused to attend a peace summit in Switzerland to which Ukraine invited him earlier this year.
The Lithuanian foreign minister also described Guterres' participation as "unacceptable".
BRICS - named after original members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - has expanded this year to include Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and is being held this week in Kazan, Russia.
According to Patrick Stewart, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Guterres may be trying to broker a peace deal and shares some of the BRICS concerns about the representativeness of international institutions.
In western capitals, however. "was probably not well received because it could be seen as legitimizing Vladimir Putin's policies," Patrick said in an interview with Euronews on Tuesday.
Guterres' spokespeople did not respond to a request for comment.
euronews/ gnews - RoZ
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