What's happened
UN Secretary-General António Guterres met with Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in Kazan, drawing sharp criticism from Ukraine. The meeting comes amid ongoing violence in Ukraine and allegations of North Korean troop involvement in the conflict.
Why it matters
What the papers say
According to The Guardian, Yulia Navalnaya criticized Guterres for meeting Putin, stating, 'It was the third year of the war, and the UN secretary general was shaking hands with a murderer.' This sentiment reflects Ukraine's broader discontent with the UN's actions. Meanwhile, The Moscow Times highlighted the summit's significance for Russia, noting that it aimed to strengthen ties with the Global South, with leaders from countries like India and China attending. The summit's final communique expressed a desire for a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict, but the effectiveness of such statements remains in question.
How we got here
The meeting between Guterres and Putin occurs as the war in Ukraine enters its third year. Ukraine has condemned the UN chief's attendance at the BRICS summit, arguing it undermines peace efforts.
More on these topics
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Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast.
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Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, previously holding the position from 1999 until 2008.
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BRICS is the acronym coined to associate five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The BRICS members are known for their significant influence on regional affairs.
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Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Covering an area of 17,125,200 square kilometres, it is the largest country in the world by area, spanning more than one-eighth of the Earth's in
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Kazan, is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an area of 425.3 square kilometres, with a population of over 1.2 million residents, up to roughly
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North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.
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António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres GCC GCL is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015.