ukra "un secretary-general 'icc arrest warrant' banned meeting with putin"

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres' meeting with Russian President Putin contradicts the U.N.'s stance in support of the activities of the International Court of Justice, the ICC, Ukraine has claimed.

Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kislitzya, said on social media that the UN secretary-general is prohibited from meeting with a person with an ICC arrest warrant.

Kislitzya explained that Guterres' predecessor, former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, had drawn up guidelines for a potential meeting between U.N. Secretariat representatives and those subject to ICC arrest warrants in 2013.

The guidelines state that the United Nations should refrain from doing anything that could interfere with the work of various agencies, including the ICC and prosecutors, or undermine the authority of its decision.

Earlier in March last year, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for President Putin on charges of illegal migration of Ukrainian children.

Secretary-General Guterres visited Russia on the 24th to attend the BRICS summit and held talks with Putin.

During the visit, Guterres also met and hugged Belarusian President Lukashenko, who is called Europe's last dictator.

In response, Ukraine strongly protested and expressed disappointment in a foreign ministry statement, saying it "only defames the United Nations" and did not attend the Ukraine peace conference hosted by Ukraine and accepted Putin's invitation.

Secretary-General Guterres reportedly wanted to visit Ukraine after Russia, but was rejected.