Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rebuked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for accepting an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the BRICS summit but not participating in the peace summit on the war in Ukraine, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA
“The UN Secretary General has rejected Ukraine's invitation to the first global peace summit in Switzerland”, the ministry said in a post on the “X“ social media.
"However, he accepted the invitation to Kazan from the war criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not contribute to the development of the cause of peace. It only harms the reputation of the UN“, the statement also says.
Starting today, Putin is hosting the BRICS summit in the central Russian city of Kazan, which aims to show the influence of non-Western countries, according to Reuters. Among the leaders present are Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said earlier this month that Guterres had told Minister Sergey Lavrov during the UN General Assembly last month that he intended to go to Kazan.
But yesterday a UN spokesman, asked if Guterres would attend, said: “Announcements about his future travels will be made later”.
At a peace summit in a Swiss mountain resort in June, attended by more than 90 countries, Russia's invasion of Ukraine was condemned and a way to end the conflict was sought, although Russia was not invited and dismissed the meeting as pointless.
Poland said it was a mistake to exclude Polish and Ukrainian leaders from a summit between the leaders of the US, Germany, Britain and France last week in Berlin to discuss how to support Kiev in the war with Russia, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron held talks in Berlin to discuss how to end the fighting in Ukraine amid Russian advances forces on the eastern front. The four leaders also discussed the development of the conflict in the Middle East.
Biden was initially scheduled to convene a broader meeting of Ukraine's military supporters, including Polish President Andrzej Duda, at the US Air Force Base "Ramstein" in Germany. However, the meeting was canceled due to the hurricane "Milton", which hit the southeastern part of the United States earlier this month.
"If the topic is aid to Ukraine, it is simply a mistake that neither Ukraine nor Poland took part in this meeting," Foreign Ministry spokesman Pavel Vronski told Reuters. "If we talk about aid to Ukraine, we must not forget that Poland is one of the countries that help Ukraine the most, and that 90 percent of all supplies (to Ukraine) pass through Polish territory,", he added.< /p>
There is currently no response from the German government to Reuters' request for comment.
Polish-German relations have warmed since Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-EU coalition came to power in December, although Warsaw continues to criticize Berlin's approach to migration and the two neighbors are at odds over the joint financing of the European Union for the defense and strengthening of the eastern border of the bloc, notes Reuters.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the US is preparing $800 million worth of aid to finance the production of Ukrainian drones, Reuters reported, citing BTA, referring to his evening video address.
According to Zelensky, this is in addition to the package of about 400 million dollars in aid for new weapons announced during the visit of American Defense Minister Lloyd Austin to Kiev.
"Today there is a new decision of the USA to support Ukraine. New Defense Pack. The amount is 400 million dollars. Another separate package is being prepared - financing the production of Ukrainian drones for 800 million dollars. Ukraine is grateful for this support. We must ensure that, despite all political threats in the world, Ukraine can consistently defend its sovereignty and independence. And we will certainly do it," Zelensky said, quoted by Ukrinform.
President Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine needs the determination of its partners in the implementation of its "victory plan", especially against the background of the information about the special role of North Korea in supporting Russia. In his words, "Putin is afraid of peace and is therefore looking for ways to increase aggression and bring North Korea to the front.
The preliminary military aid package was announced by US President Joe Biden on October 16. The $425 million package to help Ukraine's security includes air defense systems, ammunition, military equipment and other weapons.