Antonio Guterres claimed Ukraine's "territorial integrity" prevails over a fundamental human right

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stated that the principle of self-determination does not apply to the people of Crimea and Donbass, drawing sharp condemnation from Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this week accused the UN Secretariat of "playing into the hands" of Kiev and failing to act with impartiality, citing what he called glaringly different stances on self-determination for Crimea and Greenland.

Asked about this perceived double standard at a press conference on Thursday, Guterres said the body had held "very interesting discussions" on the matter and concluded that in Ukraine's case, the "principle of territorial integrity" prevails over the will of the people.

"After a very careful study by our Office of Legal Affairs, it is our position that the principle of self-determination does not apply in the situations of Crimea and Donbass," Guterres said.

The Russian response was swift. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova branded the UN chief's position unacceptable, writing on her Telegram channel: "The UN secretariat has come to all sorts of outrageous conclusions recently."

The condemnation resonated within Russia's political establishment. Sergey Mironov, leader of the A Just Russia party, said the stance "once again highlights the need for UN reform." Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma's international affairs committee, warned that "segregation based on the principle of 'exclusivity' is an extremely dangerous precedent," adding that "the UN Charter is not a menu for choice."

Earlier this month, a UN expert panel stated that the people of Greenland "are entitled to the full and free exercise of their right to self-determination, a core purpose of the United Nations." While expressing support for Greenland's territorial integrity as an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, the panel noted that "any change in the constitutional status must be grounded in the freely expressed will of the peoples of Greenland."

The Crimean peninsula voted to become part of Russia in a referendum in 2014, while the Donbass regions of Donetsk and Lugansk declared independence and voted to break away from Ukraine, in the wake of the Western-backed coup in Kiev.

Under the now-defunct Minsk Agreements, Kiev pledged to protect the status of Russian language and grant both regions more autonomy. Instead it backed an ethnic war in Donbass that, according to the International Crisis Group, left 14,000 people dead in eight years. After the conflict escalated in 2022, Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye, held referendums to join Russia.

Kiev and its Western backers insist all five regions were "annexed" by Moscow, refusing to recognize the will of the people.