The Reluctant Peacemaker

 The Reluctant Peacemaker

Criticized for inaction in Ukraine, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres wades into diplomatic hellscape with little prospect of halting Russian invasion.

APRIL 28, 2022, 11:35 AM

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres visits Ukraine after Russian invasion

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres gestures as he visits Borodyanka, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 28. SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

By Colum Lynch, a senior staff writer at Foreign Policy. FP subscribers can now receive alerts when new stories written by this author are published. Subscribe now | Sign in

In the weeks leading up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres dismissed warnings from the United States and the United Kingdom that Russia intended to march into Kyiv and topple the government. And as Russian tanks rolled across Ukrainian territory, Guterres swatted down suggestions that he pay a visit to Kyiv to show solidarity with Ukraine and lead a diplomatic effort to end the conflict.

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But this week, Guterres yielded to pressure from Western governments and former U.N. officials to undertake what is perhaps the most ambitious—and politically risky—diplomatic mission of his career, visiting Moscow and Ukraine in an effort to crack open the door to a possible peace process and negotiate a cease-fire that allows thousands of civilians to escape cities under siege.

“He’s been worn down, and he finally had to do it,” said one Western diplomat familiar with the behind-the-scenes efforts to force Guterres’s hand. However, the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, credited Guterres with delivering a tough message in Moscow, underscoring Russia’s violation of the U.N. Charter and exacting a pledge from Russian President Vladimir Putin to permit the evacuation of civilians from the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

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