ISTANBUL

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday in Brazil.

The two held talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

According to a UN statement, the meeting addressed the "strong partnership between the United Nations and Türkiye," with Fidan and Guterres exchanging views on the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, and the next round of meetings concerning the island of Cyprus.

On July 16-17, Guterres is set to convene an informal meeting concerning Cyprus with the leaders of the divided island along with its guarantor powers – including Türkiye – at UN headquarters in New York.

The two-day BRICS summit opened on Sunday, bringing together leaders from major emerging economies to discuss global security, governance reform, and cooperation in the Global South.

BRICS includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as longstanding members plus several recent additions to the group.

Türkiye has applied to join BRICS, and it got a special invitation to this year's summit.