UN chief 'not surprised' after leaks reportedly revealed US spying on him

WASHINGTON (AA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "not surprised" following the leaked Pentagon documents that reportedly indicated that the US was spying on his phone.

"The Secretary-General has been at his job for quite some time. He's been in politics and public figure for quite some time. So he's not surprised, I think, by the fact that people are spying on him and listening on his private conversations," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in response to a question regarding the Pentagon leaks.

"Unfortunately, you know either through for various reasons, it allows such private conversations to be distorted and made public," he added.

When asked if the UN chief will be protesting to the US, Dujarric responded: "We're not in the habit of revealing his private phone calls with various member states".

Leaked Pentagon classified documents showed that the US was monitoring Guterres because it believed he was too soft on Russia.

It also revealed a private conversation of Guterres and his deputy about the Black Sea grain deal.

Asked about the reports, Dujarric said: "The Secretary-General is not soft on any one country another".

"He has been very clear about the violations of international law, very clear about the violations of the charter. He says the same thing when he's in Moscow, when he's in Kyiv, when he's in New York, and that's in the open record," he said.

"Our efforts, his efforts have been to mitigate the impact of the war on the world's poorest. And that means doing what we can to drive down the price of food and the price of grain and fertilizer worldwide," he added.