MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres talking about how the territorial integrity of Ukraine trumps the principle of self-determination of peoples undermines peace efforts on Ukraine, and doesn't align with the UN's stated purpose of ending conflicts, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

The diplomat said that on top of exceeding his powers as UN secretary general, Guterres is essentially acting "against the settlement of the conflict" in Ukraine.

"His statements are not only not loyal to the goals, principles and objectives of the United Nations, which are primarily to prevent and resolve conflicts, but also become an obstacle to the realization of these goals, damaging the credibility of the United Nations as a whole," Zakharova told a news briefing.

According to her, Russia is again forced to point out "the openly biased approaches of the leadership of the UN secretariat to the analysis of the legal aspects of the Ukrainian crisis, which is also not only formulated, but also broadcast to the international community in clear violation of the norms and principles enshrined in the UN charter."