The Secretary General of the United Nations will be present at the BRICS summit, which began today in the Russian city of Kazan, and is scheduled to meet with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, declared the deputy spokesman António Guterres.
Without specifying the date of the trip, Farhan Haq said that Guterres will go to Kazan “just as he did before in [cimeira do grupo na] South Africa, as has always been the case when participating in meetings of organizations with a large number of important Member States, such as the G7 or the G20”.
The same source added that the BRICS countries “represent almost half of humanity” and, therefore, the summit is “very important for the UN’s work with member states” of this organization.
The question of Guterres’ presence at a forum organized by Putin has been raised several times with the spokesman in recent days, without response. Today Haq justified what appears to be a last-minute decision and “many areas to deal with” by Guterres.
The UN chief is in Addis Ababa from Sunday for the African Union summit.
Haq also confirmed that Guterres will meet Vladimir Putin, as well as other leaders present at the summit, depending on his availability, as this is “one of the main reasons for his presence”.
This will be the first time Guterres and Putin will meet since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The spokesman assumed that Guterres would convey to Putin “his recognized position on the war in Ukraine and the conditions for a just peace based on the charter and the resolutions of the United Nations”, referring to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine .
The BRICS group, originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, expanded to nine members this year with the integration of Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.