Antonio Guterres may have reason to regret that awkward handshake with a smiling Vladimir Putin and the hug with Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, or indeed the decision to attend the BRICS summit on Russian soil.

In his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in two years, UN chief António Guterres told Putin on Thursday that Russia's invasion of Ukraine violates international law. Guterres, who has been involved in peace efforts between the two sides since the early weeks of the conflict,