The President of Russia, Vladimir Putinwill meet on Thursday 24th with the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterresafter the Brics summit in the city of Kazan, the Kremlin reported this Monday 21st.
Putin will hold “seven bilateral meetings”, including with Guterres, after the end of the meeting of emerging powers in this city located about 700 kilometers east of Moscow, said the Russian government’s diplomatic spokesman, Iuri Ushakov.
It will be the first Putin-Guterres meeting in Russia since April 2022, two months after the start of Russian military intervention in Ukraine.
Guterres criticized the intervention on several occasions, stating that it sets a “dangerous precedent” for the world, and defended a “just peace” that respects international law and the “territorial integrity” of the country. Ukraine.
During his visit on April 26, 2022, Guterres discussed with Putin proposals for humanitarian assistance and the removal of civilians from conflict zones, according to a UN report.
At this time there are no signs that Ukraine or Russia are willing to start negotiations to end the conflict, which has lasted more than two and a half years.
As host of the BRICS summit, which will take place from Tuesday to Thursday in Kazan, Russia intends to demonstrate the failure of Russia’s isolation policy and the sanctions imposed on it by Western powers for its intervention in Ukraine.
The Russian president is limited in his international travel for a arrest warrant issued against him in March 2023 by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, accusations that Moscow categorically rejects.
Putin will hold around fifteen bilateral meetings, including with the leaders of China, Xi Jinping; from India, Narendra Modi; from South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa; from Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan; and from Iran, Masudd Pezeshkian.
Brics owes its initials to its first five members (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), canceled his trip to Russia after suffering a domestic accident, but will participate in the summit via video conference.
