Fallout from the United Nations Leaks of classified defense and intelligence documents Continued, as intended to show some elements Possible surveillance The UN secretary-general and Russia are at odds over the handling of a key initiative to help export grain from Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.
Airman Jack Teixeira, 21, of the Massachusetts Air National Guard arrested For his alleged connection to leaked documents, some of which have been doctored.
The leaked documents focus on parts first reported by the BBC Black Sea Grain InitiativeA series of deals brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to help Russia move grain from Ukrainian ports and export fertilizer.
One of the documents revealed that the United States felt that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ “actions are undermining broader efforts to hold Moscow accountable for its actions in Ukraine,” to preserve the grain deal, which he sees as key to the solution. Global food insecurity. Guterres told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the United Nations would continue efforts to improve Russia’s ability to export, even if it included sanctions on Russian companies or individuals, the documents show.
Western governments since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine Comprehensive sanctions against Russian officials and organizations, Aiming to paralyze the country’s economy and the ability of its citizens and companies to do business with the rest of the world.
But Ukraine’s UN ambassador portrayed Guterres as friendly to Moscow. “He made an important contribution to allowing Ukraine and the United Nations to sign the Istanbul Agreement between Turkey and its Black Sea Grain Initiative,” Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador, Sergey Kislyas, told CBS News on Thursday.
The documents, if authentic, also reveal US surveillance of the UN chief. In particular, the resumption of a discussion between Miguel Graca, director of the UN Secretary-General’s Executive Office, and Guterres in which the UN chief resented Guterres’ request for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to travel to Kiev. Guterres has made several visits to Ukraine since the start of the offensive, including his most recent trip to Kiev last month.
“The secretary-general has been in this job and in the public eye for a long time. He is not surprised that people are spying on him and listening to his private conversations,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told CBS News. . “What is surprising is the inaccuracy or incompetence that allows such a private conversation to become distorted and public.”
“We accept what we can do, but the need to respect the effectiveness of UN communications applies to every member state,” Dujarric told reporters Thursday.
Ukraine has also rejected accusations of siding with Russia in the conflict.
“Secretary-General Guterres made his position on Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine very clear on the night of the invasion, a position now guided by various UN General Assembly resolutions supported by the vast majority of member states,” Kislias said. .
“The Secretary-General has never misled me. He is very attentive to the issues that I bring to his attention. Even when he travels, he complies with my requests,” Kisliyas said, adding, “I think Antonio Guterres is world class. He faces many dramatic challenges. A statesman with decades of experience.”
Guterres has bounced back and forth between UN headquarters, Moscow and Kiev since the war began last February. He has known Russian President Vladimir Putin for many years, first meeting him in 2000 when Guterres was Prime Minister of Portugal. Guterres visited the Kremlin in 2016 as one of his first foreign trips after being elected to run the United Nations.
“Guterres has been admirably open in criticizing Russia, but the Black Sea deal was a big win for him and he’s forced to defend it,” Richard Gowan, an expert on global organizations and director of the UN’s International Crisis Group, told CBS. the news
It was still unclear as of Thursday how much of the leaked documents, which some officials said date back to late February and early March, are accurate. Some images appear to have been manipulated.
Sources told CBS News that the Department of Defense and the intelligence community are actively reviewing and evaluating the legitimacy of the photographs circulated on social media.
— Eleanor Watson and Camilla Schick contributed reporting
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Pamela Falk
