This year’s United Nations General Assembly is over, and after dozens of bilateral meetings and high-level negotiations, some of the world’s most pressing conflicts don’t appear any closer to a resolution. In fact, the Assembly’s general debate was filled with harsh and combative speeches by world leaders seeking either to justify existing conflicts they’re involved in or to express a clear desire to fight on.
As I covered last week, the opening salvos came during President Trump’s speech before the assembly, in which he declared that the U.S. would continue to fight Iran until it no longer had the capacity to build nuclear weapons.
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, responded a day later in his own speech, declaring that his country would not be intimidated into betraying its own national interests.
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While some had anticipated that mediated discussions between Iran and the U.S. at the U.N. could have moved the needle closer toward peace, Trump dashed those hopes over the weekend by publicly rejecting an Iranian-proposed peace plan.
The Russia-Ukraine war also seems no closer to ending after the General Assembly, despite multiple meetings between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and Western leaders. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of the summit last week, but refused to disclose substantive details from the meeting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was absent from the summit last week, with Mr. Lavrov delivering remarks before the assembly in his stead. In his speech, Lavrov hit back at the West, accusing it of force and double standards, and vowing that Moscow’s Ukraine operation will be carried through the end. He made similar remarks during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday, saying that European powers are to blame for increased tensions on the continent.
Speeches by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas also underscored lingering issues that have only been exacerbated since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began in February.
In a searing speech, Netanyahu defended the Iran campaign as a matter of survival, dismissed Gaza genocide accusations as “the greatest lie of the century,” and downplayed accounts of settler violence against Palestinians living in the West Bank.
Dozens of delegates left the assembly room as the prime minister rose to the podium, providing a powerful visual reminder of Israel’s growing isolation from the international community.
Abbas, who was denied a visa by the U.S. for a second year in a row, maintained that conditions in the West Bank and Gaza are among the most dangerous in Palestinian history and pushed for the acceleration of the Trump-backed Gaza peace plan.
Abbas bemoaned the lack of progress toward the second phase of the plan, which would implement an international peacekeeping force and could, potentially, limit Israeli military operations in the territory.
Taken together, the week left the Assembly’s stated mission of dialogue over division looking further out of reach than when world leaders arrived, even as efforts to broker peace continue.
Read more:
- U.S. to enter annual U.N. General Assembly 81 during consequential year in foreign policy
- Trump to U.N.: I’m acting while others deliberate
- At U.N., Trump vows to settle Iran conflict by striking deal or annihilating the country
- Secretary of State Rubio opens the door to Trump-Iran meeting during U.N. summit
- Rubio holds closed-door meeting with Russia’s Lavrov as Trump admin presses for peace in Ukraine
- Defiant Pezeshkian rails against Trump, U.S., Israel in fiery U.N. speech
- Netanyahu dismisses opponents, praises Trump in brash speech at United Nations
- Iran floats seven-day plan to end the war, reopen Strait of Hormuz
- Trump rejects Iranian ceasefire offer
- Iran says it’s ready for ‘doomsday’ onslaught of U.S. attacks after Trump rejects ceasefire deal
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