Serhiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations

UN Secretary General António Guterres’ trip to Kazan for the BRICS summit meeting sparked fierce criticism from Ukraine and its allies. Spokespeople for the Secretary General explained why the visit was necessary due to the “importance” of the event, saying that the member states of this organization represent half of the world’s population. Moreover, they claim that Guterres explained to Putin his position regarding Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. How legitimate was the trip of the head of the United Nations to the aggressor country and his meeting with the war criminal? Ukrinform asked Serhiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, for comment.

– Serhiy Olehovych, many statements and comments have been made – both here in New York and in Ukraine – about the moral, legal and political aspects of the decision of the UN Secretary General to travel to Russia at the invitation of the war criminal Putin will attend the BRICS summit meeting. Does United National have rules about this?

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

More than two decades 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 accordance with the general obligations of the Treaty on Relations, the UN Secretary-General issued guidelines in 2013 – known as the ‘essential contacts policy’ – governing any possible meeting with a member of the UN Secretariat and a person targeted an order for compensation applies. arrest by the ICC. The Secretary General passed on the guidelines to the President of the General Assembly and to the President of the Security Council.

This document states: “It can be expected that persons for whom arrest warrants have been issued by the International Criminal Court will deliberately attempt to meet with United Nations officials to demonstrate their contempt for the ICC and to attempt to undermine its authority… Although the UN and the International Criminal Court International Criminal Courts are separate organizations with their own mandate. The two organizations share the common goal of ending impunity for perpetrators of the most serious crimes affecting the international community. Furthermore, the UN-ICC Relations Agreement requires the United Nations to “refrain from any action 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, Putin behaved exactly like this when he sent an invitation to the UN Secretary General to visit Russia and participate in the BRICS summit.

As a general rule, no meetings should take place between UN officials and persons subject to arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court.

No solemn meetings may be held with such persons; ordinary courtesy calls 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 should only come into direct contact with such a person from time to time “for the purpose of resolving fundamental issues” affecting the capabilities of the UN and specialized agencies, organizations, programs and funds of the United Nations. attack the UN. system to carry out their mandate in the country concerned, including on vital security issues.

Contacts between United Nations officials and persons subject to arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court should be limited to those strictly necessary for the conduct of essential activities mandated by the United Nations, and only to the extent necessary.

– Can the UN Secretary General meet the heads of international organizations such as GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) or the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization)?

– The UN General Assembly has adopted relevant resolutions on relations between the UN and GUAM, SCO and other regional organizations.

But I am not aware of any cooperation agreements between the UN and BRICS.

For example, when it comes to the SCO, the UNGA resolution of September 1, 2023 states: The General Assembly “Emphasises the importance of strengthening dialogue, cooperation and coordination between the UN system and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization; and proposes that the specialized agencies Organizations, programs and funds of the UN system work together with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for the purpose of jointly implementing programs to achieve their objectives”. It invites the Secretary-General of the United Nations to hold regular consultations with the Secretary-General of SCO and encourages specialized agencies and components of the UN system to cooperate with SCO, making use of existing inter-organizational forums and formats”.

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

Neither the Security Council nor the UN General Assembly has instructed the UN Secretary General to communicate with the BRICS, let alone to accept an invitation from a person for whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court.

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

– Has the Office of the Secretary General justified the need for a meeting with a war criminal?

– We await a clear explanation from the UN on what kind of “essential issues” should be resolved at the BRICS summit involving a person who is a fugitive on an arrest warrant from an international criminal tribunal. Let me repeat: these are the issues that “affect the ability of the UN and its specialized agencies, organizations, programs 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 Spokesperson for the Secretary General has said so far, I have not heard an answer to this question. He responded to questions from journalists 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 security and freedom of navigation for commercial ships in the waters of the Black Sea. As you know, the full operation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative has not been assured for more than a year.

As for the four bilateral meetings of the Secretary General, which the Deputy Spokesman mentioned, two of them were with dictators: Putin and Lukashenko.

– And if the Secretary General wishes to meet with a person subject to an ICC arrest warrant, is there a procedure to inform the court of the meeting and explain why this 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 Legal Affairs Office) appoints the Prosecutor of the Court and the President of the Assembly of States Parties “are given prior notice by the Rome Statute” of the intention to meet with a person subject to an ICC arrest warrant, and to explain why such a meeting is considered necessary. I am curious about this letter.

Interviewed by Volodymyr Ilchenko