They had not met for more than two years: this Thursday, October 24, the UN Secretary General spoke with Vladimir Putin on the occasion of the Brics summit in Kazan, Russia. During their meeting, Antonio Guterres “repeated his position that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law,” according to a statement from the Secretary-General’s spokesperson’s office released in New York.
As he did before the summit participants, the UN chief also reiterated his support for a “just peace” in accordance with the charter and international law. “The Secretary General said that we should all live like one big family”, “unfortunately, in families there are often arguments, scandals, property disputes, and sometimes there are even fights”, had declared Vladimir Putin a little earlier, during his press conference closing the summit.
Antonio Guterres also underlined to the Russian president his attachment to “freedom of navigation in the Black Sea”, capital for Ukraine and global food and energy security. “He fully supports the continuation of negotiations in this regard,” added the press release, welcoming in particular Turkey’s efforts on this issue.
The Black Sea is a crucial trade route for Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain producers and exporters, but it has become a battleground since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. After the withdrawal of Russia in July 2023 of the grain agreement negotiated under the aegis of Turkey and the UN in the summer of 2022, Ukraine set up a corridor in the Black Sea to export its agricultural products, especially cereals, despite threats from Moscow to fire on boats sailing in the area.
“Bad choice”
Antonio Guterres and Vladimir Putin also discussed the situation in the Middle East, in particular “the absolute necessity of a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as the need to avoid further escalation regional,” the statement said.
The UN Secretary General, who presented himself as an available mediator, regularly stressed that the annexation of Ukrainian territories had “no place in the modern world”. “The war in Ukraine remains an open wound in the heart of Europe,” he said again in February. But his interview with the Russian president earned him numerous criticisms. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs thus estimated Monday evening that Antonio Guterres had made “the wrong choice” by agreeing to go to Kazan. “This only harms the reputation of the UN,” the ministry criticized on X.
Ahead of this meeting, Russian opponent in exile Yulia Navalnaïa, widow of Alexeï Navalny, deplored Thursday that Antonio Guterres shook the hand of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a “murderer”. “It’s the third year of the war, and the Secretary General of the United Nations is shaking hands with a murderer,” she said in a message posted on X.