- Paul Adams
- Diplomatic Correspondent – BBC
The documents indicate that Washington has been watching António Guterres closely
New leaks of classified government documents reveal that the US government believes that the Secretary-General of the United Nations is very willing to take into account Russian interests.
The documents indicate that Washington has been watching António Guterres closely.
Several documents describe private communications relating to the Secretary-General and his Deputy.
These documents are part of the latest leak of classified documents that US officials are scrambling to contain.
The documents also contain candid remarks from Guterres on the war in Ukraine and a number of African leaders.
One of these leaked documents focuses on the Black Sea grain export agreement, which the United Nations and Turkey brokered in July after fears of a global food crisis.
The document indicates that Guterres was so anxious to preserve the deal that he was willing to take into account Russia’s interests.
“Guterres stressed his efforts to improve Russia’s export opportunities, even if this involved sanctioned Russian entities or individuals,” the document says.
According to the assessment, the Secretary-General’s actions in February “undermine broader efforts to hold Moscow accountable for its actions in Ukraine.”
United Nations officials chafed at the documents’ suggestion that the world’s top diplomat was soft on Moscow.
A senior UN official said he would not comment on the leaked documents, and that the UN was “driven by the need to mitigate the impact of war on the world’s poorest countries”.
“This means doing what we can to bring food prices down, and to ensure that fertilizers are affordable for the countries that need them most,” he added.
Russia has repeatedly complained that its grain and fertilizer exports have been negatively affected by international sanctions, and has threatened at least twice to suspend cooperation with the Black Sea Grain Export Agreement Coordination Center unless its concerns are addressed.
Russian grain and fertilizers are not subject to international sanctions, but Russia says it has encountered difficulties with shipping and insurance operations.
Clearly, UN officials are not satisfied with America’s interpretation of the Secretary-General’s efforts. They say Guterres has made his opposition to the Russian war clear.
In another document, dated mid-February, it describes a frank conversation between Guterres and his deputy, Amina Mohamed. In it, Guterres expressed his “displeasure” with the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen’s call for Europe to produce more arms and ammunition as a result of the war in Ukraine.
The document also states that they talked about a recent summit of African leaders. Amina Mohamed says that Kenya’s President, William Ruto, is “ruthless” and that she “doesn’t trust him”.
The United States is known to be among a number of countries that routinely spy on the United Nations – but when some secrets of this spying come to light, it is deeply embarrassing, let alone for the world’s foremost diplomat, potentially very damaging.
The BBC was able to verify initial footage of the documents that appeared on Discord. It is a social media platform popular with video game enthusiasts – shared on many discussion channels.
On Wednesday, Discord said it was cooperating with law enforcement authorities in their investigation of the leak.
US national security spokesman John Kirby told the BBC that the US government is striving to get to the bottom of the leaks.
“This was a series of serious leaks. We don’t know who is responsible for it, we don’t know why. We are assessing its national security implications, and we are currently conducting a criminal investigation,” he added in remarks during President Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland on Wednesday.
And he added, “We want to get to the heart of the secrets of the leaks issue, and we want to know who did this and why.”
Kirby said Washington is “engaging diligently” with allies to answer any questions they have about the leaks, so they know “how seriously we take this.”
He added that while some of the documents had not yet been verified, “it certainly appears to have come from various sources of intelligence in the government.”
