UN Secretary General meets with Putin
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today.
Guterres’ visit hopes to facilitate an end to the hostilities of the Russia-Ukraine war, with Guterres also visiting Kyiv later this week to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The UN has taken several actions against Russia in response to the war, including suspension from the UN Human Rights Council over atrocities committed by Russian soldiers. Guterres’ meeting with Putin is unlikely to create any progress towards an end to hostilities. As a result, expect the UN and individual member states to further isolate Russian both diplomatically and economically-Russia recently lost re-election to the UN Social and Economic Council despite being a founding member.
Russia has attempted to counter its isolation by strengthening ties with China and with member states of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) such as Belarus and Kazakhstan. Given the economic and military dependence of these states on Russia, it is likely they will continue to align themselves with Russia in multilateral organizations. However, these states will continue to publicly oppose Russian military action to avoid being targeted by Western sanctions already placed on Russia.
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