(Bloomberg) -- Antonio Guterres may have reason to regret that awkward handshake with a smiling Vladimir Putin and the hug with Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, or indeed the decision to attend the BRICS summit on Russian soil. Ukrainians are furious and have rescinded an invitation to visit.
It wasn’t the kind of impact the Secretary General of the United Nations hoped to have given his remit to foster constructive diplomacy in the biggest geopolitical hot spots. Israel has openly asked for his resignation for what it sees as a UN bias in the Mideast conflict.
His recent actions in Kazan, where Russia hosted the latest BRICS summit, coupled with a decision to skip an Ukrainian summit in Switzerland, has some of Kyiv’s closest allies now publicly asking for his ouster as well.
The decision to attend the largest gathering of world leaders in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 came at a cost to his already faltering reputation in Ukraine and its closest allies. The International Criminal Court indicted Putin in 2023 for alleged war crimes and issued a warrant for his arrest.
In a setting where his every move was bound to be scrutinized, photos and videos circulated on social media painted him in an unflattering light next to Putin and Lukashenko, an ally often dubbed “Europe’s last dictator.”
It didn’t help that it all happened in the same week that intelligence showed North Korean soldiers moving into Russia to take part in the war against Ukraine.
“This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on X of Guterres’ visit. “It only damages the UN’s reputation.”
WWestern partners were left angry and baffled. They pointed out that Guterres cited personal reasons to decline going to a June meeting organized by Ukraine with more than 100 officials on the grounds that Russia wasn’t there. That had raised eyebrows in Kyiv — but then he went to an event hosted by Putin where he was seen acting cozy with the Russian leader.
“Guterres must admit having been wrong and take responsibility for a decision not to attend the Ukrainian peace summit in Switzerland as well as now for going to see war criminal Vladimir Putin, and for cuddling both with him as well as with his accomplice” Lukashenko, said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. “Guterres is no longer regarded as an honest intermediary, and if he decided to resign we certainly wouldn’t be the ones trying to dissuade him.”
Guterres went to Russia to discuss the war in Ukraine and freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, deputy UN spokesman Fahan Haq said at a briefing Friday. He said any contact with people under ICC indictment is done “strictly on the basis of operational necessity.”
Guterres had tried to organize a visit to Kyiv for after the BRICS summit but scheduling conflicts meant that available dates were seen as too distant from the Kazan gathering, according to people familiar with the matter. Haq said the UN and Ukraine are still working “to find a mutually convenient time for such a travel.”
But allies are outraged that his time in Russia coincided with the day when the UN marks the anniversary of when its charter came into force.
“Pathetic,” said Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyt. “There’s people in international organizations and also some political leaders who think they can talk to everyone, both here and there. Considering that he didn’t find the time to attend Ukraine’s high-level peace summit in Switzerland, then these attempts to hold some talks with one side don’t look good.”
Following his meeting with Putin on the sidelines of BRICS, Guterres issued a readout saying that he’d “reiterated his position that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law.”
But what stuck was Lukashenko’s choice of gift: a statue of storks accompanied by his words: “Antonio, we need peace.”
--With assistance from Tony Halpin, Olesia Safronova and Iain Marlow.
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