The United Nations General Assembly’s high-level week begins Tuesday in New York, bringing hundreds of diplomats and world leaders to UN headquarters for a series of speeches, meetings, and negotiations.
This year’s General Assembly comes as the UN prepares for a leadership transition, with Secretary-General António Guterres set to leave office at the end of the year. The proceedings will also focus heavily on artificial intelligence, conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the future of the UN itself.
The theme for this year’s General Assembly is “Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all.”
Trump To Meet Gulf Leaders
US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet leaders of Persian Gulf Arab states on Tuesday to discuss the next phase of the war with Iran.
The General Assembly will also host a high-level briefing for Trump’s Board of Peace, which is intended to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza.
France is also planning a follow-up meeting on the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. France and several other Western countries recognised the State of Palestine during last year’s UNGA proceedings.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to meet Trump in New York, as he did last year. US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had separately met Zelensky in Kyiv and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also expected to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Russian state media.
Greenland Deal
The General Assembly is also expected to provide an opportunity for formalising deals.
Trump is expected to sign an agreement negotiated with Denmark and Greenland that would give the US permanent control over Greenlandic security. The details of the agreement and how it would differ from existing arrangements remain unclear.
The US already has a large military presence on the island under current arrangements.
Who Will Speak At UNGA?
More than 130 heads of state or government are expected to attend the General Assembly, although the mix of leaders and the signals they send to the UN could vary significantly.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is scheduled to speak first on Tuesday, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address the assembly on Thursday.
One of the major questions is whether Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a surprise appearance in New York. Xi is due to appear in Washington for a state visit while the General Assembly is underway.
Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez will make her UN debut on Thursday. She is expected to meet Trump before her address.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is also scheduled to speak on Thursday, before Netanyahu. However, the Trump administration has again refused Abbas a visa, meaning he is expected to address the chamber via video.
Iran’s Pezeshkian To Attend
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is expected to travel to New York on Tuesday and attend the General Assembly.
The US has allowed Iran’s core delegation to attend the high-level week despite the ongoing conflict between the two countries.
The Iranian delegation will face travel restrictions and restrictions on the purchase of luxury and other goods under US sanctions policy. The delegation will also be smaller than last year’s team.
Pezeshkian’s appearance comes as Iran is actively engaged in combat with the United States, making his presence at the UN particularly notable.
Guterres’ Final UNGA
This year’s General Assembly will also mark one of the final major appearances of Guterres as UN secretary-general.
French President Emmanuel Macron is also making his final appearance at the General Assembly.
The race to replace Guterres before the end of the year is expected to be a key issue during the high-level week. An informal UN Security Council straw poll was held on Friday, with Costa Rica’s former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan reported to have a narrow lead.
The US has not formally backed a candidate. Washington has said candidates for the next secretary-general must publicly commit to changes sought by the US.
AI Takes Centre Stage
Artificial intelligence is expected to be one of the biggest themes at this year’s UNGA.
Guterres has made AI a major focus of his tenure and devoted much of his final press conference before the General Assembly to the technology.
A conference on digital cooperation involving technology industry figures, diplomats and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is scheduled for Monday. The UN Security Council is also scheduled to meet on AI on Wednesday, while the US is hosting another event on the issue the same day.
The discussions come after several weeks of warnings about the potential risks posed by rapidly developing AI models.
UN’s Financial Position
The UN enters this year’s General Assembly in a better financial position than last year, when it faced a severe budget crisis amid threats from the US to cut funding.
Ahead of the General Assembly, the US government sent the UN $827 million in dues. That remains a fraction of the approximately $4 billion the US owes the organisation, but represents a significant payment for a body that had faced warnings of imminent financial collapse earlier this year.
At the same time, questions over the UN’s relevance and effectiveness are expected to remain part of the debate during the General Assembly.
The organisation continues to face scrutiny over its ability to influence conflicts and enforce international decisions, while supporters argue that it remains the only institution with the legitimacy and mandate to bring every country together to address global conflicts and establish international rules.
