U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in the Russian city of Kazan on Wednesday (October 23) to attend the meeting of the heads of states of BRICS group, the TASS news agency cited local authorities as saying, Reuters reports.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry criticized Guterres this week for his acceptance of an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the BRICS summit, while staying away from a "peace summit" on the war in Ukraine.
Guterres' office has said he would discuss the Ukrainian conflict with Putin, as well as the crisis in the Middle East.
The BRICS group, a bloc of countries that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates, is convening in Kazan for a three-day summit from Oct. 22-24. According to Moscow, 36 world leaders are participating in the conference.
Guterres is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the event on Oct. 24, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry criticized the U.N. secretary general's visit.
"The U.N. 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," the ministry said on social media.
"This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the U.N.'s reputation."
