World leaders gather in New York this ​week for the UN General Assembly, bracing for President Donald Trump’s return to the rostrum for a second year running, with talks centering on the widening conflicts in ‌the West Asia and Ukraine and the risks of artificial intelligence.

Nearly 130 heads of state meet with the post-World War ​Two order under strain and with the UN itself struggling to remain relevant and weathering attacks from Mr. Trump, who has slashed America’s contributions ⁠and withdrawn from dozens of UN bodies.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who last addressed the diplomatic jamboree via video in 2021, will skip New York in favour of one-on-one talks with Mr. Trump in Washington on Thursday (September 20, 2026), fuelling debate about the UN’s relevance in addressing global crises.

Compounding the crisis of morale and finance are questions about the next ‌leader of the 80-year-old organisation. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres completes his term at the end of 2026, with no clear frontrunner in the race to replace him.

The 15-member UN Security Council may hold high-level meetings on Ukraine, AI and the West Asia, including talks with Arab ‌leaders, diplomats said.

More than a year into Mr. Trump’s second term, “we would no longer say that the UN is in freefall, but we ‌would ⁠say that it’s stuck in an open-ended crisis,” said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group.

“The UN may not be in emergency ⁠care like it was last year, but it seems to be trapped in a trauma centre for the foreseeable future,” Mr. Gowan said.

The U.S. avoided losing its vote at the assembly by paying $725 million in contributions to the regular budget this week, but it still owes the organisation more than a billion dollars and makes ongoing demands for cuts and reforms.

Growing AI risks

The assembly meets shortly after several artificial intelligence industry leaders called ‌for a coordinated slowdown of the development of the technology, warning that it could soon improve on its own and escape human control.

Mr. Guterres has said that AI will be a major topic, adding that countries pushing its frontiers should set up “common guardrails in order to avoid this race to the bottom that could lead one day to a gigantic disaster at the global level”.

The Secretary-General has long proposed global governance of AI. In ‌2023, the UN created an advisory body on the technology, with members including tech executives, government officials and academics.

The warning has put ​Mr. Guterres at odds with Mr. Trump, who dismissed AI risks as a “hoax,” saying there is a “sick conspiracy” against it and that China would benefit from the doubt being cast on its development.

West Asia escalation

The West Asia will again be a focus of ⁠discussions, as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran continues to drive global inflation and destabilise the region. Recent gains by Houthi militants threaten shipping in the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait and could further spike energy prices.

“It’s very difficult to have a military solution for that problem, and the experience of fighting in Yemen demonstrated how complicated ‌it is to have successful interventions,” said Mr. Guterres, adding that the UN’s envoy on Yemen was making a “huge effort” to advance talks.

Peace talks remain stalled, however, as Iran and the U.S. continue to exchange strikes and Mr. Trump threatens a major escalation of the war.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to address the assembly on Wednesday (September 23, 2026).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza that Israel denies — is to speak on Thursday (September 24, 2026).

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will for the second year running not be at the gathering in person. The U.S., a close Israeli ally, again denied him a visa. On Thursday (September 17, 2026), the General Assembly voted to allow Abbas to appear via video.

There is likely to be a high-level meeting ‌on the conflict in Sudan on the sidelines, diplomats said, although a diplomatic breakthrough is unlikely.

Ukraine, food security

Also on the agenda is Russia’s more than four-year-old war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr ​Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will address the General Assembly. Mr. Zelenskyy will likely seek to shore up Ukraine’s position ahead of what is expected to be another tough winter, diplomats said.

The Security Council has been unable to take action ⁠to end the conflict because permanent member Russia holds a veto.

Mr. Trump has at times appeared frustrated that he has been unable to broker an end to the ⁠war, a goal he declared a priority when he began his second term in January last year. The U.S. president spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin earlier this month, but it was unclear whether he plans to meet Mr. Zelenskyy in New York.

Mr. Guterres highlighted the impact ‌the war was having on civilians but also on food security and energy prices.

“The effective blockade existing in the Black Sea is creating enormous problems that add to the problems generated by the West Asian crisis, and I think it would be very important to find a way to ​allow Ukrainian exports and Russian exports of food, fertilisers and energy to take place in a safe way through the Black Sea,” he said.

Published – September 20, 2026 01:14 pm IST

Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon September 25, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

World leaders lined up at the United Nations on Tuesday (September 24, 2024) to call on Israel to refrain from a full-scale war in Lebanon, with the organization’s chief warning the situation was on the “brink.”

The UN General Assembly, the high point of the international diplomatic calendar, comes after Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes had killed 558 people— 50 of them children.

“Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in his farewell address to the global body.

“In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely,” Mr. Biden said ahead of an emergency UN Security Council session on Lebanon planned for Wednesday.

Mr. Biden’s remarks drew disappointment from Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib who said they were “not promising” and “would not solve the Lebanese problem,” as he estimated that the number of people displaced by Israel’s strikes has likely soared to reach half a million.

“We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said when he opened the gathering.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said his country was “not eager” for a ground invasion of Lebanon.

“We don’t want to send our boys to fight in a foreign country,” he said.

‘End this war’

It is unclear what progress can be made to defuse the situation in Lebanon, with efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza— which Israel has relentlessly pounded since October 2023— coming to nothing.

Mr. Biden on Tuesday pushed again for an elusive ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, telling the global body it was time to “end this war.”

Mediator Qatar accused Israel of obstructing Gaza ceasefire talks, with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani saying “there is no Israeli partner for peace” under the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

But he added: “We will continue our efforts of mediation to resolve the disputes through peaceful means.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of dragging the entire region “into war.”

“Not only children but also the UN system is dying in Gaza,” Mr. Erdogan said in a scathing speech.

Mr. Guterres cautioned against “the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza,” calling the situation in the Palestinian territory a “non-stop nightmare.”

European Council President Charles Michel said that Israel had the right to exist and defend itself but without inflicting “collective punishment” on civilians living in areas targeted by its military.

President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran— which backs Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza— condemned “senseless and incomprehensible” inaction by the UN against Israel.

‘Charade of hypocrisy’

British Foreign Minister David Lammy also sounded the alarm over the escalating violence in Lebanon.

“I am very worried about the risk of escalation, and this breaking into a wider regional conflict,” he told AFP as Britain announced it was deploying military units to Cyprus to assist with any evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon.

Responding to criticism of Israel, Mr. Danon called the General Assembly debate an “annual charade of hypocrisy.”

Since last year’s annual gathering, when Sudan’s civil war and Russia’s Ukraine invasion dominated, the world has faced an explosion of crises.

The October 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people and prompted a military response in Gaza that authorities say has killed at least 41,467 people.

Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

Violence has raged across multiple fronts in the Middle East since the crisis erupted, with the conflict exposing deep divisions at the UN.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas took his seat alongside the Palestinian delegation, placed in alphabetical order in the General Assembly for the first time on Tuesday after the delegation received upgraded privileges in May.

At the rostrum, Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday ruled out the forced displacement by Israel of Palestinians to his country, which he said would be a “war crime.”

Ukraine was also on the agenda Tuesday with President Volodymyr Zelensky addressing a UN Security Council meeting on the Russian invasion.

“Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what’s needed— forcing Russia into peace,” Zelenskyy said.