UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 24 that his invasion of Ukraine violated the UN charter and international law, according to a UN statement following their meeting at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.
The statement said Guterres reiterated his position on the Russian invasion during their meeting, which was their first since April 2022.
The UN chief, whose visit to Russia as the country's forces continue their indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, was photographed shaking hands with Putin ahead of their meeting.
In an earlier speech to the summit's delegates delivered in front of Putin, Guterres called for a "just peace" in Ukraine.
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"The UN Secretary General declined Ukraine's invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on X on October 22. "He did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN's reputation."
Russian opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya also slammed Guterres for meeting Putin, labeling the Kremlin boss a "murderer."
"It was the third year of the war, and the UN Secretary-General was shaking hands with a murderer," Navalnaya said on X, posting a photo of Putin greeting Guterres.
She has blamed Putin for the death of her husband, opposition politician and outspoken Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, in a Russian prison in February.
The three-day summit in the city of Kazan was attended by representatives of the other BRICS countries -- Brazil, India, China, and South Africa. The leaders of or representatives of 36 countries, including Iran and Turkey, also attended the meeting.
Russia touted it as a show of force among the world’s major developing countries that are still willing to meet with Putin despite massive Western sanctions and efforts to isolate Moscow in response to its illegal war in Ukraine.