The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, rejected the possibility of a visit by UN Secretary General António Guterres to Ukraine. According to the source, this refusal was a reaction to the UN chief's participation in the BRICS summit, which took place this week in the Russian city of Kazan. Such a move by the Ukrainian leadership is a response to Guterres' cooperation with the BRICS countries, including Russia, which continues a full-scale war against Ukraine.
Guterres wanted to visit Kyiv after the summit, but his request was not supported by the Ukrainian side. The speech with which the UN Secretary General addressed the participants of the summit, including the Russian President Vladimir Putin, caused particular dissatisfaction in Ukraine. During his speech, he called for a "just peace" in Ukraine, while avoiding direct statements about Russia's aggression and violation of international law.
This visit by Guterres to Russia became the first since the beginning of the full-scale war and caused outrage among Ukrainian officials. Earlier, in March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin for his responsibility in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children, which added strong arguments to the reluctance of the Ukrainian side to support the visit of the Secretary General.
