U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived at the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan on Oct. 22, despite criticism from Ukraine, Voice of America reported.

The BRICS group, a bloc of countries that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates, is convening in Kazan for a three-day summit from Oct. 22-24. According to Moscow, 36 world leaders are participating in the conference.

Guterres is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the event on Oct. 24, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry criticized the U.N. secretary general’s visit.

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  • @CanadaPlus
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    22 hours ago

    That’s not what the principle of proportionality means.

    Says who? The entire philosophy of a just war is about trolley problems - kill someone now, to protect someone later. Killing for anything else is just murder. Certainly, the UN doesn’t say what you’re suggesting, and Israel’s arguments under international law have focused more on all of Gaza being a military target somehow, as opposed to it being okay simply because of their goals, or because proportionality doesn’t apply outside of some very narrow situation.

    Nothing is above human rights, and definitely not Bibi’s career, which is really what’s driving things here. Israelis themselves would rather make a deal. Everyone on the other side and Israel’s allies would definitely rather make a deal.

      • @CanadaPlus
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        14 hours ago

        Yeah, I can read the definition as well as you can. What you’re proposing is an interpretation of “military advantage” - one which would let any number of bad guys from history off the hook. Oh, and also Hamas - Oct 7 advanced their goals quite well, as you’ve pointed out with the hostages.

        • @DarthJon@lemmy.world
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          13 hours ago

          That’s because we’re discussing the definition of proportionality outside the broader context of the laws of warfare. It is a principle applied to specific strikes within the context of military action that is justified under international law. So no, it doesn’t just license a group like Hamas to do what they did on the grounds that it helped them achieve their goals.

          • @CanadaPlus
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            2 hours ago

            It is a principle applied to specific strikes within the context of military action that is justified under international law.

            Okay, who says that. That’s an incredibly narrow context, I’m not even sure what “strikes” would mean here - since it’s usually applied to a tactical context that’s way below the granularity of any military treaty I’ve ever seen.

            • @DarthJon@lemmy.world
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              16 minutes ago

              Oh come on, there are well-established doctrines of internal law related to war - you know, the same “international law” that anti-Zionists love to accuse Israel of violating all the time.

              ‘Strike’ is the word I chose and may not be the word that actually appears in the documents that outline international law on the matter, but you get the point. This is a silly discussion.