This is the fawning moment UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was seen bowing down to “killer” Vladimir Putin.
His act of submission – bowing his head to the Kremlin’s warmonger – caused outrage in Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelensky canceled a trip to kyiv by the head of the United Nations.
Guterres met Putin at the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was criticized for the way he met Russian President Vladimir Putin, pictured right, at the BRIC conference in Kazan.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in Kazan.
Guterres also met with Belaurs dictator Alexander Lukashenko, pictured.
His behavior was compounded by images showing him hugging Putin’s closest ally on the international stage, Belarusian despot Alexander Lukashenko, a vote manipulator who used his ruthless KGB secret police to crush the law-abiding democratic opposition.
In addition to the hug, Guterres also enthusiastically accepted a gift from the tyrant of Minsk.
Russian opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Putin’s “killed” enemy Alexei Navalny, sharply criticized Guterres for meeting Putin.
He posted on X: “It was the third year of the war and the UN Secretary General was shaking the hand of a murderer.”
Despite the backlash, the UN emphasized that Guterres had bluntly told Putin that his invasion of Ukraine was illegal.
He called for “a just peace in line with the United Nations Charter, international law and General Assembly resolutions.”
Guterres was criticized for the warmth he showed to both Putin and Lukashenko, pictured.
But Putin pushed Guterres aside and instead demanded UN reform.
“For the United Nations to function effectively in the future, it is important to adapt its structure to the realities of the 21st century, expanding representation on the Security Council and other key bodies to include countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, including those whose leaders are present in this room,” he said.
Putin’s meeting and warm embrace of Lukashenko caused widespread offense in Ukraine, where Zelensky canceled an expected visit by Guterres.
The UN chief had been unable to attend a packed Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland in June.
“That is why Guterres will not be here, in particular because of the humiliation of common sense and international law in Kazan,” a senior Ukrainian official said.
His meeting with Putin had “caused anger in Kyiv.”
Zelensky complained that there were officials at the UN who preferred the “temptations in Kazan” to the organization’s charter, implying that Guterres was too close to Moscow and not an honest broker.
Lukashenko, considered the illegitimate president of Belarus after falsifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, was seen praising Guterres.
“I would like to congratulate him for the remarkable qualities he brings to the role of secretary general,” said the man who has been in power in Belarus for 30 years but now has Putin’s support.
“In my political life I have observed more than one Secretary General, but I have never found as much determination as his.”
He continued to offer honeyed adulation saying: ‘Know that we will always be by your side.
“When it comes to peace and war, we are for peace, for peaceful negotiations and for the peaceful resolution of any conflict.”
Despite his closeness to Putin, Lukashenko appeared to be encouraging the UN chief to find a route to peace in Ukraine.
The video shows him giving a figurine of a stork, a “symbol of peace”, to the UN leader.
“We, Antonio, need peace very much,” he said.
