Serhiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations

The trip by UN Secretary General António Guterres to Kazan for the BRICS Summit meeting caused fierce criticism from Ukraine and its allies. Spokespersons for the Secretary General explained why the visit was necessary by the "importance" of the event, saying the member countries of this organization represent half the population of the world. Furthermore, they claim that Guterres allegedly explained to Putin his position regarding Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. How legitimate was the trip by the head of the United Nations to the aggressor country and his meeting with the war criminal? Ukrinform requested Serhiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, for comment.

- Serhiy Olehovych, there are a lot of statements and comments made - both here in New York and in Ukraine – about the moral, legal and political aspects of the decision by the UN Secretary General to travel to Russia at the invitation of the war criminal Putin to attend the BRICS Summit meeting. Do the United National have rules in place concerning this?

- Yes. It is not for the first time this issue has been raised.

More than 20 years ago, the UN General Assembly approved the Relationship Agreement between the United Nations and the International Criminal Court in September 2004, and the agreement entered into force the following month.

In line with the general obligations of the Relationship Agreement, in 2013 the UN Secretary-General issued guidelines – known as the “essential contacts policy” – that govern any potential meeting with a member of the UN Secretariat and a person subject to a warrant for arrest by the ICC. The Secretary-General transmitted the guidance to the President of the General Assembly and to the President of the Security Council.

This document states: “It can be anticipated that persons who are the subject of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court may deliberately seek to meet with United Nations officials in order to demonstrate their contempt for the Court and try to undermine its authority… Although the UN and the International Criminal Court are separate organizations with their own mandates, the two organizations share the common goal of putting an end to impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. In addition, the Relationships Agreement between the UN and the ICC requires the United Nations to “refrain from any actions that would frustrate the activities of the Court and its various organs, including the Prosecutor, or undermine the authority of their decisions”.

As we can see, this is exactly how Putin behaved when he sent an invitation to the UN Secretary General to visit Russia to participate in the BRICS Summit.

As a general rule, there should be no meetings between United Nations officials and persons who are the subject of warrants of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court.

No solemn meetings should be held with such persons, ordinary visits of courtesy to them should be avoided. The same applies to receptions, photo sessions, participation in celebrations on the occasion of national holidays, etc.

According to the Guidance, the Secretary-General and his deputies may occasionally enter into direct contact with such a person only "for the purpose of resolving fundamental issues" affecting the ability of the UN and specialized agencies, organizations, programs and funds of the UN system to carry out their mandate in the country concerned, including on vital security issues.

Contacts between United Nations officials and persons who are the subject of warrants of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court should be limited to those which are strictly required for carrying out essential United Nations mandated activities and only to the extent necessary.

- Is the UN Secretary General allowed to meet with the heads of international organizations, such as GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) or the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization)?

- The UN General Assembly adopted relevant resolutions regarding relationships between the UN and GUAM, SCO and other regional organizations.

But I am unaware of any cooperation agreements between the UN and BRICS.

For example, when it comes to the SCO, the UNGA resolution dated September 1, 2023 states: The General Assembly "Emphasizes the importance of strengthening dialogue, cooperation and coordination between the UN system and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization; and proposes that the specialized agencies, organizations, programmes and funds of the UN system cooperate with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization with a view to jointly implementing programmes to achieve their goals”. It invites the Secretary-General of the United Nations to engage in regular consultations with the Sec retary-General of SCO and encourages specialized agencies and components of the UN system to cooperate with SCO, using the existing inter-organizational forums and formats".

As for the GUAM, according to the resolution dated November 21, 2022, the General Assembly "invites the Secretary-General of the United Nations to engage in regular consultations with the Secretary-General of GUAM and encourages specialized agencies and components of the UN system to cooperate with GUAM, using for this purpose appropriate inter-organizational forums and formats, including annual consultations between the UN Secretary-General and heads of regional organizations".

Neither the Security Council nor the UN General Assembly have instructed the UN Secretary General to interact with BRICS, let alone accept an invitation from a person who is the subject of warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court.

The Guidance explains that “When cnontacts are absolutely necessary, an attempt should be made, where possible, to interact with individuals of the same group or party who are not the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.”

- Did the Secretary General's office substantiate the need for a meeting with a war criminal?

- We are waiting for clear explanation from the UN about what kind of "essential issues" needed to be resolved at the BRICS Summit with an individual who is a fugitive under a warrant for arrest by an international criminal tribunal. Let me reiterate it again: these are the issues that "affect the ability of the UN and its specialized agencies, organizations, programmes and funds to carry out their mandates in the country concerned, including on vital security issues," as required by the Guidance.

From what the Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary General has said so far, I have not heard an answer to this question. He replied to journalists' questions that the Secretary General is participating in the BRICS summit to hold a series of bilateral meetings with the leaders attending the summit, in particular with the aim of promoting issues related to the safety and freedom of navigation for commercial vessels in the Black Sea waters. As you know, the full operation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative has not yet been ensured for over a year now.

Regarding the four bilateral meetings by the Secretary General, which the deputy spokesman mentioned, two were held with dictators - Putin and Lukashenko.

- And if the Secretary General wants to meet with a person subject to a warrant for arrest by ICC, is there any procedure for informing the Сourt of the meeting and explaining why it is considered necessary? (By the way, on the day of this interview (October 25), Ukraine submitted its instrument of ratification of the Rome Statute to the UN Secretariat).

- Yes, the 2016 UN Manual on cooperation with the ICC explains: “A procedure has been established whereby OLA [the UN Office of Legal Affairs] informs the Prosecutor of the Court and the President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute in advance” of the intention to meet with a person subject to a warrant for arrest by ICC and to explain why such a meeting is considered necessary. I am curious to see this letter.

Interviewed by Volodymyr Ilchenko