During the Brics summit in Kazan, Guterres issued a statement that said: “We need peace in Ukraine. A just peace in line with the UN Charter, international law and General Assembly resolutions.”
Guterres’ office justified his participation in the summit, referring to Brics’ role “in boosting global co-operation”.
Set up in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, Brics was later joined by South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.
A number of analysts say that some Brics heavyweights, like Russia and China, have been seeking to challenge the G7 group of the world’s seven largest economies.
The current G7 members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.