This is the fawning moment UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres was seen bowing to ‘murderer’ Vladimir Putin.
His act of subservience – lowering his head to the Kremlin warmonger – caused outrage in Ukraine, where president Volodymyr Zelensky cancelled a trip to Kyiv by the United Nations chief.
Guterres met Putin at the BRICS summit held in Russian city Kazan.
His behaviour was compounded by footage showing him embracing Putin’s closest ally on the international stage, Belarus despot Alexander Lukashenko, a vote-rigger who used his ruthless KGB secret police to crush the law-abiding democratic opposition.
As well as the hug, Guterres also enthusiastically accepted a gift from the Minsk tyrant.
Russian opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya – wife of ‘murdered’ Putin foe Alexei Navalny – slammed Guterres for meeting Putin.
She posted on X: ‘It was the third year of the war, and the UN secretary general was shaking hands with a murderer.’
Despite the backlash, the UN emphasised that Guterres had bluntly told Putin that his invasion of Ukraine was illegal.
He called for ‘a just peace in line with the UN Charter, international law and General Assembly resolutions’.
But Putin brushed aside Guterres and instead demanded reform of the UN.
‘For the UN to function effectively in the future, it is important to adapt its structure to the realities of the 21st century, expanding representation in the Security Council and other key bodies to include countries from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, including those whose leaders are present in this room,’ he said.
Putin’s meeting and the fond embrace for Lukashenko caused major offence in Ukraine, where Zelensky cancelled an expected visit by Guterres.
The UN chief had failed to attend a Ukraine-packed peace summit in Switzerland in June.
‘That’s why Guterres will not be here, in particular, because of the humiliation of common sense and international law in Kazan,’ said a senior Ukrainian official.
His meeting with Putin had ’caused anger in Kyiv’.
Zelensky complained that there were officials in the UN who preferred ‘temptations in Kazan’ to the organisation’s charter, implying Guterres was too close to Moscow, and less than an honest broker.
Lukashenko – seen as the illegitimate president of Belarus after falsifying results of the 2020 presidential election – was seen lavishing praise on Guterres.
‘I would like to congratulate you on the remarkable qualities you bring to the role of secretary-general,’ said the man who has been in power in Belarus for 30 years but is now propped up by Putin.
‘In my political life, I have observed more than one Secretary-General, but I have never encountered such decisiveness as yours.’
He went on to offer treacly adulation saying: ‘You should know that we will always stand by you.
‘When it comes to peace and war, we are for peace, for peaceful negotiations, for peaceful resolution of any conflicts.’
Despite his closeness to Putin, Lukashenko appeared to be encouraging the UN chief to find a route to peace in Ukraine.
Video shows him gifting a statuette of a stork – a ‘symbol of peace’ – to the UN leader.
‘We, Antonio, we very much need peace,’ he said.