UN Secretary-General António Guterres (Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS)
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis
sarcastically commented on UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who attended
the BRICS summit chaired by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
“If António Guterres decides to resign, Lithuania will not
try to dissuade him,” the foreign minister wrote on X.
Before this, Landsbergis posted a photo on his page showing
Guterres shaking hands with Putin and bowing his head before him. He captioned
it “This is the UeNd,” which can be translated as “This is the end of the UN.”
Earlier, AFP reported, citing sources in the President’s
Office, that Zelenskyy rejected Guterres’ visit to Ukraine due to his trip toRussia. The UN Secretary-General’s office did not confirm this information.
“After Kazan, [Guterres] wanted to come to Ukraine, but the
president did not confirm his visit. Therefore, Guterres will not be here,
precisely because of the affront to common sense and international law in
Kazan,” a source told the agency.
Guterres
arrived in Kazan on Oct. 23, coinciding with the start of a three-day BRICS
summit. His visit drew sharp criticism from Western countries, which
pointed out that while Guterres attended the Kazan summit in person, he only
participated in the Lebanon Conference in Paris via video link. Moreover, he
was absent from the peace summit held in Switzerland in June.
In response to the criticism, the UN Secretary-General’s
office stated that Guterres had previously participated in BRICS meetings and
that this international forum is significant on the global stage, and “cannot
be ignored.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the visit, calling
it “harmful to the UN’s reputation and unhelpful to peace efforts.”
The UN confirmed that during the BRICS summit in Kazan,
Guterres met with Russian dictator Vladimir
Putin, reiterating to him that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine constitutes a
violation of the UN Charter and international law.
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