UN General Assembly opens with Macron, Trump, Erdogan, Lula, others in NYC

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Towards the end of his wide-ranging address, French President Emmanuel Macron said there was a need for nations to develop their own artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities so as not to be beholden to the US and China.

"France is proud to have a competitive frontier model" he said, likely referring to Mistral AI.

Macron said likeminded nations such as India, Brazil, Singapore, African nations and the Gulf states should pool not only their financial resources but also their data processing capacity.

"I don't want anyone to become the vassal of one of the great powers. Rather, we must come together to build an open-source frontier model, a cutting-edge model," he told the UN General Assembly.

"Our investment capabilities must be pooled to build a cutting-edge open-source AI model, which we will share. We should not depend on somebody else," he added.

French President Emmanuel Macron was addressing the General Assembly for the last time, as his term limit approaches and presidential elections beckon early next year. 

He alluded to his previous visit to the event in New York, when a dozen countries including France announced plans to recognize Palestinian statehood. 

"I understand that some of you are very cynical," Macron said, and some people would argue this recognition was only on paper and did not address the reality of the situation. 

"But what is our credibility worth if we remain inactive on Gaza?" he asked. "Some claim that peace has been achieved, but this has not opened up humanitarian deliveries. The scenes, the spectacle, it is shameful. Shame on all of us!" 

Macron said that what was needed was respect for the "legitimate rights" of the Palestinian people, arguing that this was a "prerequisite for security" not just for Palestinians but also for Israel. 

"But all those who claim that Israel's security requires the violation of the sovereignty of all of its neighboring states are making a very fateful error," Macron said. "They are weakening Israel's security, today, and going forward. They are threatening Israel's security, in fact." 

Macron said that France and its allies would continue providing "unstinting support" to Kyiv, but he also floated a suggestion similar to those made by others involved either in the conflict or the efforts to broker a stop to the fighting. 

He proposed a "double moratorium," saying that both Ukraine and Russia should commit to stop strikes on each others's energy infrastructure and on grain shipments in the Black Sea. 

"Winter is coming," Macron said, explaining, "We'd like to express our support [for] a double moratorium. A moratorium on strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure, that's first. And a Black Sea moratorium which would allow us to release grain shipments." 

In times of peace both Russia and Ukraine are prolific agricultural exporters, and use the Black Sea to ship their produce. 

Part of supporting Ukraine, Macron said, was working to ensure that "useful negotiations" between the two sides start as quickly as possible. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was attending Tuesday's session; Russia's Vladimir Putin was not expected to travel to New York, or at least he has not done so since the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

A few hours after his speech at the assembly warning he was prepared to "annihilate" Iran if necessary, US President Donald Trump told reporters that American and Iranian officials had met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. 

"The had a very good meeting, a very productive meeting," Trump told reporters, saying it had lasted roughly three hours. 

"They have another one scheduled in the very near future," he said. 

Trump's speech, not unusually for the US president, contained mixed messages on Iran: a combination both of bombastic threats but also assertions that a "deal" to end the fighting was also a realistic prospect.

"I have a big decision to make,” Trump had said during his speech earlier. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”

Finland's President Alexander Stubb told the audience that the world faced a "choice between cooperation and conflict." 

He said that a third "c" was natural and should not cause concern, provided the right balance was struck. 

"Competition will always be there. Nations compete now harder than they did a generation ago. This doesn't worry me. What does, is that more and more of them now compete against the rules on which the international order rests," Stubb said. 

Stubb said he wanted to defend those rules and the spirit of cooperation and multilateralism underpinning them. 

"Small nations need it to survive, and large nations need it to be great," said Stubb, president of a country with a population only around the size of the US state of South Carolina or the Chinese city of Jinan.

Stubb said the rules were the best ways to ensure "that competition does not escalate into conflict, and that cooperation gains ground." 

Stubb cited a quote, that itself seemed a riff on another Winston Churchill adage, that's sometimes attributed to former US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott: "Multilateralism is hell and can be a real pain in the neck, but it is the best option for humanity as a whole." 

The Finnish president said that "currently, however, we appear to be going the other way — more towards a non-cooperative and multi-polar world order."

Though he said he see it might be tempting, particularly for larger powers, he called it a fundamentally "short-sighted approach" that "will turn against us, whether you represent a great power, a middle power, or a small state like Finland." 

The first Baltic leader to speak, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, began by delineating his country's plans to help defusing mines in the Strait of Hormuz or helping bring about the Gaza peace plan — but he urged the assembly not to forget the longer-running conflict closest to his home. 

"Ladies and gentleman, the one conflict that poses the greatest threat to the world order is Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," Nauseda said, even 12 years after it began with the annexation of Crimea and the beginnings of a Russian-backed uprising in eastern Ukraine. 

In that time, Nauseda said, "Russia has escalated from clandestine operations and limited warfare in eastern Ukraine to massive military operations, mass killings, and ultimately the largest drone attacks against civilian infrastructure the world has ever seen." 

He noted how the full-blown war, starting with Russia's February 2022 invasion, had now lasted longer than the first World War. Nauseda said that despite massive casualties, Russian progress had slowed to a snail's pace and Ukraine's culture, language and institutions stood tall. 

Nauseda said that only a Ukrainian victory could safeguard ideals like the UN Charter. 

"What we cannot allow is brute force prevailing over international law," he said. "We cannot tolerate any longer Moscow's colonial aspirations." 

He said these aspirations reached far into "Europe, Africa and Asia," and said that no country should consider itself immune. 

In Lithuania's case, he said Russia's war of aggression had led to "numerous violations of our airspace by combat drones," to intensified hybrid attacks, disinformation and sabotage efforts. 

He said that where Russia advanced in opening this "new Pandora's box of new techniques for destablization, other hostile actors follow, learning new skills and ideas." 

Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said the current crisis in the Gulf "should come as no surprise to anyone" as he took to the podium in New York. 

"It is the cumulative result of years of postponing crisis management through temporary solutions and unrealistic policies," he said of the war between the US and Iran which has sprawled to impact a series of Gulf states. 

"At the heart of the dangerous situation we are witnessing lies an absence of a regional system of collective security," Al Thani said. "One that respects the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of states. One that promotes the peaceful settlement of disputes and the non-interference in the internal affairs of states."

He said Qatar had recently called "from this very podium" for such a system and was now reiterating the appeal "after recent events have demonstrated the urgent need for it."

The emir said, without naming Iran or the US at any point in his address, that the absence of such a regional accord had allowed "one party to drag its neighbors into a war that is not theirs, targeting their vital assets and installations, despite their strenuous efforts to avert escalation." 

Iran has sometimes struck targets in neighboring Gulf countries with close ties to the US. 

Al Thani said that the restrictions on passage through the Strait of Hormuz amounted to the "lifelines of the global economy" being turned into bargaining chips, "with people on every continent bearing the cost, despite being far removed from the causes of the conflict." 

The 46-year-old head of state said this was driving up prices not just for fuel but also for core other goods like food and medicine. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the recognition of a Palestinian state in his address.

"Let everyone understand and accept the following," Erdogan said. "Attempts to strangle the state of Palestine will fail. God willing, we shall see those good days when an independent state of Palestine — based on the 1967 borders, with territorial integrity and with East Jerusalem as its capital — will be established." 

Erdogan told the assembly that more than 1,500 people had been killed in Gaza even since the shaky ceasefire agreement was reached with Turkish help last year. 

"Although the Palestinian resistance movement has agreed to move to the second stage of the peace plan," Erdogan said of the tiered approach long stuck on step 1, "the Israeli government refuses to stop the occupation." Israel denies that it has blocked progress with the peace plan and has accused Hamas of not meeting security requirements.

Erdogan also said the West Bank was experiencing what he regarded as escalating "settler violence and terror." 

Erdogan said he planned to "speak from the heart" and "without reservation," saying it was a "humanitarian issue" and a matter of conscience for everyone assembled. 

"We are faced with a genocidal mindset that cannot get enough of killing," he asserted. "We are faced with an extremely serious situation. No one with a sense of humanity, mercy or compassion, no one guided by justice and conscience, can possibly remain indifferent to this picture." 

Erdogan, the longstanding leader of NATO's only majority Muslim member, is known as a frequently staunch critic of Israel and its government. The two countries are also at odds over the post-civil war situation in their mutual neighbor Syria. 

Last month, Turkey announced it had sought an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged genocide, with Netanyahu's office responding that the Israeli prime minister was "unimpressed by Turkey's hypocrisy." 

US President Donald Trump began and concluded his lengthy UN speech with references to the US Declaration of Independence from colonial British rule 250 years ago.

He said the US would stand for national sovereignty and independence and against what he termed "globalism" — whether in the shape of global taxes or international controls on artificial intelligence (AI) or at UN institutions like the International Criminal Court. 

"Freedom was not a gift that Americans won easily after 250 years," he said. "And it is not one that we will ever, ever surrender."

He went on to tell of George Washington ordering the Declaration of Independence to be read to his troops in New York in 1776 as a British fleet approached the shore. 

Trump said that the first Americans "knew that it was not enough merely to believe in great principles, we must also have the will and the courage and the strength to defend them." 

He said this was the challenge "for every nation in this room," saying they should "go forward strong against the enemies of all humanity" and "refuse to shrink from" their duties to their people.

Trump had used his speech of roughly half an hour to portray many key points of his foreign policy —  from the abduction of Nicolas Maduro to the war in Iran and his tough line on Cuba, or narcotics, or migration — as expressions of this same determination and strength.

Some world leaders were present as Trump mentioned their countries. The Cuban delegation, however, walked out mid-speech.

Declaring that as recently as two years ago, "our country was dead," Trump said, "now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world." 

He appealed to other countries to follow his lead, concluding: "Together, through bold action, we will make this world far safer and a far better place."

US President Donald Trump said Washington's actions in Venezuela proved that the county "will no longer permit threats to America."

"If necessary, we will use our unparalleled military might to secure our interests," Trump said.

Trump also touted the subsequent deal he made for the US to have partial control over Venezuela's vast oil reserves, calling it "perhaps the biggest deal ever made."

"To the victor belong the spoils" he added.

Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez was present in New York for the speech.

US President Donald Trump spoke about the war with Iran and said he will never allow Tehran to have a nuclear weapon.

"They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more," Trump said, adding that he had given Tehran numerous opportunities to drop its nuclear program and stop its support of militant groups across the regions.

"They refused, which was a big mistake."

The US leader mentioned both the September 11 attacks and the October 7 attacks in Israel, the latter being carried out by Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas.

"Just imagine such a vile regime was able to carry out terror attacks from behind a nuclear shield," Trump said.

Trump concluded he faces a choice of whether to allow Iran regrow or to "annihilate" it. 

"I believe we'll make a deal right after the (mid term) election in the US," Trump argued, saying he thinks Tehran is waiting to see how the US president's Republican party fares.

However, US leader Trump said he wasn't fazed.

"The only thing that enters my mind is that Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons."

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized the UN's inability to prevent war, saying the institution's credibility "has never been lower."

"We are all held hostage by the Security Council's inaction," Lula said, adding that the current state of the world with its multiple wars is the "complete breakdown of politics."

"This is the conviction of a plant worker that was elected leader of Brazil," Lula said during his speech at the UN's General Assembly.

The leftist leader also warned that "democracy is once again under threat" and made mention of Brazil's upcoming elections in October. 

Lula said Brazil would not allow "internal and ‌external enemies of ⁠democracy" ⁠to undermine the vote, which he cast as a choice between "democracy and denialism."

"All candidates enjoy the broadest freedom of expression. We know that some abuse that freedom to ​align themselves with foreign interests that run counter to the country's interests," Lula said, without ​naming county in particular.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres spoke about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, saying settler expansion in the West Bank is "raising the specter of ethnic cleansing."

"Violence, displacement and settlement expansion by Israel in the Occupied West Bank are bulldozing the path to peace and raising the specter of ethnic cleansing," Guterres said during his opening speech at the UN General Assembly.

"We cannot allow the two-state solution to disappear before our eyes."

Guterres also said the death and destruction in Gaza is unlike anything he has seen during his time as the UN's head.

In his opening remarks of the UN General Assembly, the Secretary General Antonio Guterres lamented the continuation of wars "with devastating consequences" that hurt civilians, humanitarians and human rights.

"The fault lines in the world are widening, cracks have become canyons," Guterres said, adding warnings of AI and of climate change.

Guterres called for "a world built on interdependence" and sustained by "a dense web of economic, political, social and technological connections," also warning of a world with two rival blocs.

"Military alone cannot secure peace, technological power alone cannot commend stability," he continued.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will get his first chance to address fellow leaders on the world stage Tuesday after taking over from Keir Starmer in July. Burnham's New York sojourn follows his only other international trip, which took him to Ukraine shortly after assuming his post.

A former mayor, Burnham will use the opportunity of speaking before the UN to stake out his vision for the UK's role in the world as it continues to reel from the tectonic shifts in relations brought on by Brexit as well as US President Donald Trump's antagonistic view of the island's non-royals.

Further, Burnham is expected to emphasize the UK's role as a so-called middle-sized power as leaders like Canada's Mark Carney and Finland's Alexander Stubb articulate the importance of alliances in the face of US hostility toward former partners in the age of Trump.

Burnham, who had previously said he would never meet with Trump, is expected to speak with the US leader on the UNGA sidelines. Among the issues he will address will be the urgency of supplying Kyiv with air-defense missiles as winter approaches and Russia steps up infrastructure attacks.

The new UK leader, who has said he will seek "common ground" with counterparts, will no doubt also broach the economic strain of the war in Iran and the reopening of global shipping lanes. To that end, he will likely have helped his cause by offering concrete assistance to Saudi Arabia in its fight with Yemeni Houthis. 

This picks up some slack created by US refusals to expand military engagement on behalf of Saudi Arabia. It is also a markedly different approach from his predecessor Starmer on whom Trump soured — over his lack of willingness to join the US "excursion" in Iran — despite numerous public displays of obsequiousness.

As leaders gather in New York, they meet in a world in which new conflicts and crises have arisen to compound others unresolved years on. For a little perspective, here is just some of what has happened this year alone.