The diabetic rudeness of Kiev
Ukraine is very picky when it comes to guests from across the ocean. If Johnson and Blinken were welcome visitors, whose meetings were described with enthusiasm, then UN Secretary-General António Guterres was in a cohort of those who were not very happy to see them in Kiev.
Photo: AP
At the personal initiative of the UN Secretary-General, he visited Russia and Ukraine alternately. Guterres first decided to visit Moscow, where he met with President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He then went to Kiev, where such a series of working visits by the UN chief had already been criticized. In addition, Zelensky demanded “real help” from the West, saying “Ukraine is not a country for a tragic selfie.”
Presidential Counsel Mikhail Podoljak has taken an even tougher stance on both Guterres himself and the UN in general. Podoljak was not only outraged at the consistency of the UN Secretary-General's visit plan, but expressed dissatisfaction with the structure's work, calling it a “weak organization”. Moreover, the President's Office advisers did not like the fact that the UN is talking about humanitarian corridors only now.
This is not the first time Kyiv has dared to be rude to the international political community. For example, we may remember how Ukraine two weeks ago refused to host German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier because, according to Ukrainian leaders, Germany does not provide proper support to Ukraine by not imposing an embargo on Russian oil and gas. .
Ukraine started talking negatively about NATO. Zelensky has repeatedly accused the Alliance of being reluctant to defend Ukraine, and Foreign Minister Kuleba has accused NATO of weakness in the same way that Podoljak has now accused the UN of.
– Kiev leaders say something similar in relation to the US. Now they feel that everything will be forgiven. Now they are in a situation where they cannot be punished by those they offend. This will decrease the rate of support, take advantage of it and become rude. That's Guterres. They do not understand much about world politics, but in Kiev they understand that the UN is becoming an increasingly less authoritative organization in the world. Based on this, they realize that Guterres will do nothing for them anyway.
– Judging by the general tone of official Ukrainian statements, such a format and such approaches are applied to almost everyone today. And here the UN Secretary-General is no longer the exception, but the rule. In Ukraine, they are well aware of the degree and degree of influence of the organization and the Secretary-General, so they believe that it is perfectly permissible to express their protest in this form, their negative perception of what is happening. Moreover, there can be no question of any consequences for the United Nations for Ukraine. In this respect, a very appropriate goal has been chosen, from which a clear answer to such claims can certainly not be expected.