Ukraine criticises Guterres for attending BRICS summit

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has announced that the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, declined an invitation to attend a summit on Ukraine, which is set to take place in Switzerland.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Guterres plans to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan instead, Caliber.Az quotes the Ministry as saying on X.

The UN Secretary General declined Ukraine's invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. 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.

— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) October 21, 2024

"The UN Secretary-General declined Ukraine's invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. However, he accepted the invitation to visit Kazan," the ministry emphasised.

Notably, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are set to join Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit, alongside leaders of new member states such as Iran, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Ethiopia. Putin has scheduled bilateral meetings with many of them, as well as with guest leaders like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has cancelled his plans to attend in person after sustaining a head injury at home. Officials have confirmed that he will participate via video link.

While BRICS continues to attract attention as a political and economic counterbalance to the West, internal divisions persist. 

Russia has produced a summit report proposing reforms to cross-border payments within BRICS, aimed at bypassing the global financial system. These include creating a network of commercial banks to handle transactions in local currencies and establishing direct links between central banks, though these ideas are currently up for discussion.

However, there is disagreement over the move to reduce reliance on the US dollar as a global reserve currency, and the potential expansion of the group remains contentious.

Although BRICS advocates for increased use of national currencies in bilateral trade, countries like India oppose promoting China’s yuan as a reserve currency.

By Aghakazim Guliyev