Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized the partiality of United Nations Secretary General António Guterres at a protocol meeting in Moscow with his Special Envoy Geir Pedersen on 23 February 2022.

The Russian Minister underlined that Mr. Guterres’ statements were not consistent with the neutrality of his position, especially since he had never supported either the application of the Minsk Agreements or that of resolution 2202 on the situation in Ukraine.

The Russian Federation considers the independence of the People’s Republics of Donestzk and Lughansk to be legal under international law in view of the non-compliance of the Minsk Agreements of 5 September 2014 [1].

The Russian Foreign Ministry wrote a letter to António Guterres.