The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, held a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan. The discussion addressed the issue of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.

This is almost certainly why António Guterres decided to attend. Indeed, a statement by the UN today defended his actions saying that BRICS now represents “half the world’s population”, and that attending large international meetings is “standard practice”.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry blasted U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday for what it said was his acceptance of an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to a BRICS summit, while staying away from a "peace summit" on the war in Ukraine.