Zelenskyy blocks UN chief’s Kyiv visit after Guterres meets Putin and calls for ‘just peace’ in Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected a visit to Ukraine by Antonio Guterres over the UN chief’s participation in a summit hosted in Russia, a high-ranking source in the Ukrainian presidency told AFP on Friday.

At the BRICS summit hosted by Russia in the city of Kazan, Guterres pleaded on Thursday for a “just peace” in Ukraine, calling in a speech in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin for an end to more than two years of fighting.

But his participation at the meeting of 20 global leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – the largest diplomatic event in Russia since Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 – sparked ire in Kyiv.

“After Kazan, (Guterres) wanted to come to Ukraine, but the president did not confirm his visit. So Guterres won’t be here, specifically because of the humiliation of sanity and international law in Kazan,” the source said.

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During talks with Putin in Kazan, Guterres reiterated that the “Russian invasion of Ukraine was in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law,” according to a UN statement.

Ahead of those bilateral talks, the Ukrainian foreign ministry criticised the decision from Guterres to visit Kazan and pointed out he had not attended a peace summit hosted by Ukraine in Switzerland in June.

“This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN’s reputation,” the statement read.