{"id":353208,"date":"2026-09-22T05:23:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T05:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/353208\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T05:23:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T05:23:21","slug":"unga-2026-what-to-expect-at-the-biggest-event-in-world-diplomacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/353208\/","title":{"rendered":"UNGA 2026: What to expect at the biggest event in world diplomacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Fear not, world leaders \u2014 the UN\u2019s notorious escalator<\/a> has been fixed in time for diplomacy\u2019s biggest event of the year.\n <\/p>\n

\n That\u2019s what outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres told reporters at his last press conference<\/a> ahead of this week\u2019s General Assembly, which will bring hundreds of diplomats and world leaders to the UN\u2019s New York headquarters.\n <\/p>\n

\n Last year, US President Donald Trump accused the UN of sabotage<\/a> after the escalator he was riding malfunctioned while he made his way to the General Assembly Hall. \u201cI can tell you that we took additional measures in order to make sure that whoever goes around does not interact negatively with the escalator,\u201d Guterres said Wednesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n Aside from negative interactions with people-movers, the UN General Assembly has its work cut out for it, and this year\u2019s theme is \u201cRestoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all.\u201d The General Assembly also kicks off ahead of Guterres\u2019 own exit from his role at year-end as concerns about emerging AI models<\/a> hover over the proceedings.\n <\/p>\n

\n Here\u2019s what to expect as the UNGA\u2019s \u201cgeneral debate\u201d \u2014 where leaders and officials take turns speaking from the organization\u2019s signature stone podium \u2014 begins Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n

Dealmaking and meetings<\/p>\n

\n The high density of diplomats and world leaders makes the UNGA a prime spot for meetings on the sidelines of the main event. Trump is scheduled to meet Tuesday with leaders of Persian Gulf Arab states to discuss the next phase of the war with Iran, two US officials told CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n There will also be a \u201chigh-level\u201d briefing for Trump\u2019s Board of Peace during the week, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. It\u2019s a notable juxtaposition considering Trump once suggested that the board, meant to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, \u201cmight\u201d eventually replace the UN<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n Meanwhile, France plans to convene a follow-up meeting this week on the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, diplomatic sources said. France and several other Western countries<\/a> announced their recognition of the State of Palestine during the UNGA proceedings last year.\n <\/p>\n

\n Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said<\/a> he will hold a meeting with Trump in New York, as he did last year. US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met separately<\/a> with Zelensky in Kyiv and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month. Trump has spoken only with Putin in the weeks since that visit.\n <\/p>\n

\n Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he would meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Russian state media.\n <\/p>\n

\n The General Assembly is also a place where deals are struck or formalized. Months after threatening to annex Greenland by force, Trump is expected to sign<\/a> an agreement negotiated with Denmark and Greenland that would hand the US \u201cpermanent control\u201d over Greenlandic security. It\u2019s unclear how the deal would differ from current arrangements, which grant the US a large military presence on the island.\n <\/p>\n

\n The speeches delivered from the General Assembly podium often attract attention for the behavior of the audience as much as the speakers themselves. Last year, numerous delegates left the auditorium<\/a> while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke. In 2018, laughing delegates interrupted Trump\u2019s speech as he outlined his administration\u2019s achievements.\n <\/p>\n

\n Daniel Forti, head of UN affairs at the International Crisis Group, told CNN that the speakers list will set the tenor for this year\u2019s assembly.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhile it seems like we have over 130 heads of state or government coming, it\u2019s actually going to be a much more mixed picture in terms of the signals that world leaders are providing to the UN,\u201d Forti said.\n <\/p>\n

\n One big question is whether Chinese leader 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.\n <\/p>\n

\"Chinese<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019ll be a very difficult split screen for the organization if you have Trump and Xi meeting in Washington, and you don\u2019t have both of the world\u2019s biggest powers engaging in UN diplomacy during High-Level Week,\u201d Forti said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Asked about Xi\u2019s schedule, Guterres told reporters that while he \u201cwould like to have President Xi Jinping with us,\u201d he met with him \u201ctwice last month\u201d and is unconcerned about the Chinese leader\u2019s commitment to \u201ca world order based on multilateralism with the UN at its center.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Other headline speakers include Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, who will speak first Tuesday, and Netanyahu, who will speak Thursday, according to a preliminary list.\n <\/p>\n

\n Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez will make her UN debut on Thursday while her former boss, deposed Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, sits in jail mere miles away in Brooklyn<\/a>. Rodr\u00edguez is expected to meet with Trump ahead of her address.\n <\/p>\n

\n Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is slotted for a Thursday speaking time before Netanyahu. However, the Trump administration has again refused Abbas a visa, so he will almost certainly address the chamber via video.\n <\/p>\n

\n Even as it denies visas to Palestinian officials, the administration will allow Iran\u2019s \u201ccore delegation,\u201d which will include President Masoud Pezeshkian, to come to New York.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cConsistent with our host country obligations, the core delegation from the Iranian regime will be able to attend UN General Assembly High Level Week,\u201d a State Department spokesperson said Thursday.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe delegation will be under travel restrictions and will face prohibitions on the purchase of luxury and other goods per our (sanctions) policy,\u201d they said. \u201cThe delegation is smaller than last year.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Pezeshkian speaking in New York while his country is actively engaged in combat with the United States is virtually unprecedented. The closest international equivalent might be Egyptian President Anwar Sadat\u2019s 1977 visit to Israel while the two countries were technically at war \u2014 but even that was part of a larger peace process.\n <\/p>\n

\n Pezeshkian will travel to New York on Tuesday, a representative from his office said Monday, according to Iranian state media.\n <\/p>\n

\n There will be a few notable goodbyes at the UN this year: France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron is making his final appearance at the General Assembly, as is Guterres.\n <\/p>\n

\n The race to replace Guterres before the end of the year will be front of mind for many attendees, Forti said. The current secretary-general is the \u201clast of a previous era of globalist leaders\u201d and spent much of his 10-year tenure focused on development financing, climate change and girding the UN for the rise of artificial intelligence.\n <\/p>\n

\"UN<\/p>\n

\n The last point is especially important to the outgoing leader; Guterres spent more than half of his last press conference speaking about AI.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cArtificial intelligence will certainly be a major topic in my discussions with world leaders next week \u2014 and the United Nations will continue to explore practical ideas and approaches in the immediate days ahead,\u201d Guterres told reporters.\n <\/p>\n

\n After several weeks of apocalyptic warnings<\/a> about the technology, AI is a top-billed issue for the UNGA this year. On Monday, tech industry figures, diplomats and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt<\/a> are meeting for a conference on \u201cDigital Cooperation.\u201d The Security Council is slotted to meet about AI on Wednesday, and the US is hosting another event<\/a> the same day.\n <\/p>\n

\n Guterres has been outspoken on AI since 2021, and his focus on the emerging tech may have come at the expense of his traditional role in promoting UN peacekeeping efforts, Forti said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cGuterres has certainly been very conservative and cautious on the UN\u2019s role in peace and security,\u201d he said. \u201cHe certainly has not made the most of the mandate and legitimacy that the UN carries to try and inject the organization into more peace-making efforts.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The secretary-general\u2019s last speech is his opportunity to defend his tenure as the UN\u2019s leader, Forti added.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt may fall on deaf ears,\u201d the analyst said, \u201cbut in the long run, there may be more positive reflections on how he fought through a very difficult period.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n An informal UN Security Council straw poll for Guterres\u2019 successor was held Friday<\/a>, with sources telling Reuters that Costa Rica\u2019s former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan has a narrow lead.\n <\/p>\n

\n The US has yet to formally back a candidate. However, a State Department spokesperson said candidates must \u201cpublicly commit to the changes we require.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAny new Secretary General must return the UN to its primary purpose of maintaining peace and security in the world, rather than the absurd, politicized, woke ideology that has undermined the institution\u2019s effectiveness,\u201d the spokesperson said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The 2026 General Assembly finds the UN on firmer financial footing than last year, when it faced a severe budget crisis as the US threatened to cut the organization off entirely.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Trump administration appears to have reconsidered at least some of its UN skepticism. Ahead of the General Assembly, the US government sent the UN $827 million in dues<\/a> \u2014 a fraction of the approximately $4 billion that the US owes the UN but a not-insignificant amount for a body that in January was facing \u201cimminent financial collapse<\/a>.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

\n Yet the UN General Assembly has also increasingly served as a forum for its critics to question whether it matters at all. Last year, Trump asked the assembly point-blank: \u201cWhat is the purpose of the United Nations?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt has such tremendous, tremendous potential, but it\u2019s not even coming close to living up to that potential, for the most part,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAt least for now, all they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up. It\u2019s empty words, and empty words don\u2019t solve war.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Despite questions about the UN\u2019s legitimacy and its increasing marginalization, Forti insists that the United Nations still matters.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAt this moment in world affairs, where we have more wars than in previous decades \u2026 everyone still needs a place to come together, to deconflict, to hash out the rules of the road,\u201d the analyst said. \u201cAnd quite frankly, the UN is the only organization with the legitimacy, with the legal mandates, the ability to convene every state around the world to actually tackle those things.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fear not, world leaders \u2014 the UN\u2019s notorious escalator has been fixed in time for diplomacy\u2019s biggest event…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":["post-353208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}