Guterres shamefully meets with Putin and Lukashenko

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued a judgment arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin because “he is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of the population (children) and illegal transfer of the population (children) from the occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (pursuant to Article 8(2)(a) (vii) ) and 8 section 2 letter (b) (viii) Rome Statute).”

Putin’s crimes do not begin or end with this one case; he deserves the name like the late Senator John McCain he called him a “murderer and bandit”. Less than a year has passed since Alexei Navalny died in one of Putin’s prisons.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described Putin’s actions quite well in his own statement opening speech at the UN General Assembly this year:

The level of impunity in the world is politically indefensible and morally unacceptable. Today, an increasing number of governments and others feel entitled to a “get out of jail free” card. They can trample on international law. They may violate the United Nations Charter. They may turn a blind eye to international human rights conventions or rulings of international courts. They may thumb their nose at international humanitarian law. They may invade another country, devastate entire societies, or completely disregard the well-being of their own nation. And nothing will happen.

This is Putin in the full sense of the word. Given these words and the pending ICC indictment, it is simply indefensible that Guterres went out of his way to attend the BRIC meeting in Kazan, Russia last week. There he met Putin – see photo – and other dignitaries such as Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, whom he actually hugged.

Regarding this last meeting, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrelius Landsbergis said the following:

Guterres must admit that he was wrong and take responsibility, both when he decided not to go to the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland and now when he went to the wanted war criminal Putin and groveled to both him and his partner Lukashenko… Guterres is no longer accepted as an honest broker and if he decides to resign, we will certainly not be the ones to discourage him from doing so.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė called Guterres’ behavior “pathetic” and added that:

The United Nations adopted a number of resolutions at the General Assembly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and such behavior is, to put it mildly, incomprehensible.

As for Guterres and Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refused to receive him in Kiev after meeting Putin, with a Ukrainian official saying: “He shook his (Putin) hand. He smiled. He was asked to come to further promote the BRICS summit. He was being used by them and seemed happy to be used.

Guterres seems intent on eliminating every shred of legitimacy his office has. I noted October 23 Publication X by him:

In our troubled world, hope is not enough. Hope requires action and multilateral solutions for peace, prosperity and a thriving planet. Hope requires all countries to work together as one. Hope requires the UN.

It was just before the meetings between Putin and Lukashenko. For Ukrainians and many others, hope requires a Secretary-General who has principles and standards and who avoids the terrible moral equivalence that Guterres has embraced. Unfortunately, his term of office lasts until December 2026, but the Lithuanians are right: “if he decides to resign, we will certainly not discourage him from doing so.”