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No. 1
Turkmenistan09/28 · first at about 5 min3 mentions
In consistently promoting education and scientific cooperation as important pillars of peacebuilding, Turkmenistan will continue its engagement with the United Nations on the initiative to establish a University of Peace and Neutrality. As a practical first step, we will begin consultations on the establishment of an academic center for peace, neutrality and Preventive Diplomacy at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. Distinguished participants. Digital transformation is becoming an increasingly important factor in sustainability and development. Artificial intelligence offers broad opportunities while also requiring responsible international governance to prevent its use to the detriment of peace, security and trust.
End of quote. This was 14 years ago, after 14 years. I note that despite the great initial support, our initiative has not been realized. And we can all say that today world is not better. It's worse. This initiative has been drowned in new crises, in the incompetence and ignorance of the individuals and institutions responsible, and in the double standards that have further marked the behavior of our United Nations. And sadly, today we are even further away from the goal we tried to achieve 14 years ago. The theme of this year's session therefore is actually very well chosen. Restoring trust. A United Nations that is here for everyone. Because trust begins with a simple question do we apply our principles consistently or only when it is politically convenient? The United Nations was founded on universal principles sovereignty, equal dignity, the rule of law, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and the protection of human rights. But principles lose their meaning when they are applied selectively. So, Mr. President, distinguished delegates, let us be concrete. For decades, the United Nations has devoted significant institutional attention to the question of Palestine.
Developing countries cannot reasonably be expected to simultaneously finance climate adaptation, modernize infrastructure, strengthen social protection, manage debt, absorb external shocks and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals without an international financial system responsive to their realities. We do not ask to be relieved of responsibility. We ask for an international system that gives responsible countries the space and support to succeed.
The UN is suffering because of it. But it is also true that the United Nations requires profound reforms to be able to tackle the challenges of the 21st century. As such, the question really is: do we let the United Nations, together with its aims and founding principles, just slowly fall apart? Or do we start facing these challenges with a sense of common responsibility and genuinely try to reform the UN and start to use the only global framework we have in a responsible and sensible way? The stakes are high. The choice is ours. For Estonia, and I believe for the great majority of UN member states, upholding the principles of the UN Charter is of vital interest. But we are also conscious that in order for those principles to remain valid and respected, we need to invest in them as much with our words as with our actions.
Do you know, esteemed friends, what was, in fact, the reason, the sole official and formal reason, for the attack on the territory of the Republic of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia carried out by 19 NATO countries? You will not believe it. They told us that they had attacked a sovereign, free, and independent country in order to prevent a potential humanitarian disaster. The humanitarian disaster did not occur, and I have still not managed to hear or see where a similar example has occurred anywhere in the world. The attack against the small, yet free, and freedom-loving country Serbia, of which I am the proud President, was carried out with the intention of finally destroying the UN order established after World War II and of formally and informally confirming the dominance of a that-time unison Western world of United States of America and Europe. Do you know which countries, dear friends, took part in decision-making in the UN Security Council to bomb an independent and sovereign country that had attacked no other country? Just to add, not a single soldier, not a single police officer from Serbia had set foot on the territory of any other country, and yet a decision was made. I am certain that most of you, dear friends, who are among those best informed about world politics, no longer remember much of these either, and especially not the fact of who in the UNSC voted for that decision, or perhaps in the General Assembly. Do not even try, because it is impossible for you to remember. Why? Because such a decision was never made in the first place, and to make things even worse, no one ever even attempted to make such a decision. They were so arrogant and so powerful that they trampled everything in their path, from the Clinton administration to the administration of numerous European countries. That is precisely why Serbia supports the actions of the administration of President Donald Trump and sees in his work an opportunity for establishing a more just order in the world and more responsible attitude toward Serbia as a close American ally from both world wars. And what they did not know or understand at the time was this: they trampled Serbia, but they did not defeat it. Serbia rose like a phoenix from the ashes, and today, through its example, it shows everyone in the world how the international public order is preserved and how international public law is protected. Nevertheless, the consequences of that brutal attack against Serbia are enormous, and particularly visible here in the UN General Assembly. Admittedly, they are even more visible on the numerous battlefields around the world. Why? Well, because the principles of any kind no longer exist. Those who once trampled them have no moral right to speak about them.
At this critical historical juncture for the United Nations, we look forward with great hope to the selection through the process of electing the new Secretary-General of the most capable and deserving individual to lead the organization with a bold, strategic vision, building upon the efforts of his predecessor and capable of providing practical solutions for the various regions whose peoples continue to suffer the consequences of crises, wars, instability and inequality. A vision that restores hope to future generations for a better future in which the conditions for a dignified life are available to all. Mr. president we meet during this 81st session under the theme Restoring Trust and Managing Transformation a United Nations that delivers for all. This prompts us to ask, how can we restore this trust? And before managing the desired transformation, how can we create the conditions and lay the foundations necessary for it? Our questions stem neither from doubt nor from pessimism, but from a firm conviction that restoring trust requires serious and responsible reflection on the reasons behind its decline. Tunisia's belief in multilateral action is not a product of current circumstances. Rather, it is the continuation of a journey that began before independence, when the national movement brought the cause of the Tunisian people before the United Nations and made the right to self-determination and the recovery of sovereignty, an integral part of the struggle for freedom. Following independence, Tunisia engaged fully within the United Nations to complete the foundations of its sovereignty and to build the modern state, and it succeeded in doing so. Restoring confidence in the organization and in multilateral action requires, in our view, two essential conditions a genuine commitment and a meaningful reform process. First, there must be a sincere determination and responsible commitment by all states to respect international law founded on agreement and the principle of sovereign equality among states, and to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN charter, particularly refraining from the use of force, the settlement of disputes by peaceful means and fulfilling international obligations in good faith. Second, the United Nations must embark on a comprehensive and profound reform process that responds to the transformations that have taken place in the world. This requires, in particular, reconsidering the mechanisms of decision making within the organization to ensure a more balanced and equitable geographical representation, and establishing more effective mechanisms for transparency and accountability, thus reinforcing the confidence of states and peoples in the organisation's ability to respond to the aspirations of all. Unless genuine progress is achieved on these two tracks, collective action will remain hostage to narrow geopolitical calculations, and the gap will continue to widen between the principles we agree upon and the realities we witness on the ground. We may choose either to continue meeting under the idealism of slogans, or to commit ourselves to what can truly achieve development, prosperity and peace for all. If we have the will, we have the capacity. Tunisia welcomes the efforts undertaken within the framework of the UN80 Initiative. We regard these efforts as a true opportunity on which we should build, rather than a final destination in the reform process. We support the three reform tracks proposed by the initiative, provided that they are pursued through an inclusive, consultative process that preserves the intergovernmental nature of the organization and does not undermine the negotiating mandates of member states. Tunisia also believes that addressing the liquidity crisis in the organization requires all states to meet their financial obligations in full. We stress that reform should not result in a reduction of support allocated to developing countries, or to humanitarian missions and development programmes supervised by the organization and specialized agencies. Tunisia, therefore, calls for a fair and balanced approach that safeguards both the effectiveness and credibility of the United Nations. Mr. president.
Thank you so much for your hard work for the United Nations Organization and for the Republic of Poland. Distinguished Excellencies, distinguished guests, the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly begins at one of the most difficult, in my view, moments since the organization's founding. Poland was, in fact, a founding member of the United Nations. From the very beginning of the UN's existence, we have been faced with a question about the foundations of the international order that we are shaping within our organization. Despite many achievements, we must not forget that at the very root of its creation lies a fundamental flaw, an original flaw, that continues to undermine the system's credibility to this day. The UN was established in response to the greatest tragedy in human history, World War II, but it was not founded on a simple and fundamental principle: that every wrongdoing must be met with accountability, and sometimes with just punishment. For Poland, this is not an abstract issue. At the very moment the foundations of the UN were being laid, my nation, a victim of two totalitarian regimes, was under the domination of one of them, Soviet Russia, and, after several years of devastating occupation, of the other, Germany. Thousands of Polish heroes who fought for the freedom of Europe and the entire world were, at that time, imprisoned, tortured, and sentenced to death. The UN already existed at that time. At the same time, the state responsible for those crimes had a say in shaping the postwar order, as a permanent member of the Security Council. Poland has never received redress for that period and those wrongs. The failure to hold anyone accountable for these crimes was not merely historical oversight; it sent a signal that violations of international law, aggression, and imperialist policies could go unpunished in reality. It is precisely this lack of justice, this sort of original sin of the postwar order, that creates space for the return of old aggressive ambitions and methods of operation. The aggressive policies of certain states today are, therefore, not a phenomenon detached from history. These policies are a direct consequence of it. A state that has not been held accountable for its actions is more likely to resort to the same tools again. That is why it is so important that today, as the international community, we restore the full meaning of the principle of accountability. Without it, there will not be a lasting peace, and international law will remain nothing more than a declaration devoid of real power. Ladies and gentlemen, today we must show courage while remembering that sometimes courage alone is not enough, that without prudence, courage can lead to disaster.
Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, The faultlines in our world are widening. Cracks have become canyons. Over the last decade, wars erupted with devastating consequences and dragged on with despicable cruelty. Civilians were targeted. Human rights trampled. Hunger weaponized. Humanitarians killed. International law cast aside. Geopolitical divides have deepened. Inequalities have intensified. Trust has frayed. The climate crisis went from distant warning to daily reality. And artificial intelligence moved at a speed that has blindsided even those who created it. These are not separate crises. They are chapters of the same story. The story of power. Who has it. Who is denied it. How it is used. And how it is changing. Excellencies, Power is being reshaped in three fundamental ways. First, among States. New centres of economic, political and technological influence have emerged. Second, we are witnessing an extraordinary transfer of power away from governments to a handful of private corporations and individuals. Their reach now extends across politics, economies, information flows, technological development, and the civic space on which societies depend. And, third, humans are increasingly handing over power to machines – with Artificial Intelligence agents going rogue, and lethal autonomous weapons going from science fiction to military reality. Yet our institutions and systems of global governance continue to reflect the power realities and interests of a largely bygone age. That is the defining challenge before us. At the very moment when humanity faces an unprecedented convergence of threats, our mechanisms for collective action are under growing strain. Excellencies, We are clearly moving towards a multipolar world. And that movement is irreversible. But there are different ways that multipolarity can take shape. One possibility is a world of fragmentation and transactionalism. A world of rising tensions and deepening mistrust. Of fractured markets and weakened institutions. Of shrinking cooperation and zero-sum calculations. In many respects, that is the trajectory we are on today. But there is another path. A path towards networked multipolarity. A world built on interdependence – and sustained by a dense web of economic, political, social and technological connections. A world in which multiple centres of influence coexist within a common framework of international law and shared rules. Such a world can help us avoid hegemonic tendencies and what I have called the Great Fracture: The division of the world into two rival blocs with separate economic, technological and security systems. A networked world recognizes that no power can solve today’s challenges alone. Of course, competition will remain a permanent feature of international relations. But competition does not have to mean confrontation. Healthy competition can drive innovation, strengthen resilience, and expand opportunity. But only when it operates within frameworks that preserve stability and enable cooperation where cooperation is indispensable. Building a networked future begins with a recognition, especially by superpowers: That their power isn’t so super. That their power has limits. The events of recent years have made that unmistakably clear. Military power alone cannot secure peace. Economic power alone cannot command stability. And technological power alone cannot guarantee security. A networked multipolar world can create the conditions for more balanced and representative global problem-solving. But it requires a multilateral system centred in the UN that is balanced and representative. Strong, effective institutions that reflect the realities and the progressively changing relative weight of countries and economies in today’s world – not the power arrangements of 80 years ago. Fortunately, we are not starting from scratch. We already have a binding foundation: The Charter of the United Nations. And the principles that give it life. The primacy of international law. Upholding human dignity. And the pursuit of justice in all its dimensions. These are the backbone for the effective, legitimate and responsible exercise of power in the 21st century. Excellencies, It comes down to this: Will we act to ensure that power is governed by law or by force? By cooperation or coercion? By responsibility to young people and future generations or indifference to their fate? Because the defining challenges of our age are not separate from the question of power. They are expressions of it. And they will determine whether we drift deeper into division and instability – or move toward cooperation, justice and collective security. Looking ahead, our future will be shaped by how we address four great tests of power: The power over war and peace. The power that concentrates wealth and drives inequality.
Climate responsibility must be paired with climate justice. We call on industrial nations to honour their financial pledges and operationalize loss and damage mechanisms. Democracy and human rights and responsible innovation. Mr. president, the ultimate measure of governance is inclusion.
In the face of the rapid advance of artificial intelligence and the digital transition, Sao Tomé and Principe calls for international cooperation that enables developing countries to access the technology, knowledge, infrastructure and financing they need. We advocate responsible technology governance centered on human dignity, transparency and fundamental rights, so that innovation translates into better opportunities and services for all. Excellencies. The experience of Sao Tomé and Principe as a small democracy also shapes the way we view representation at the international level.
Mr. president, we express our country's grave concern as the world continues its slide toward uncertainty and division. The erosion of trust among nations is rapidly reshaping the international order. Our collective inability to prevent conflicts, our collective indifference toward humanitarian crisis, and our collective reluctance to seek common solutions to shared challenges are all becoming normalised. Trust cannot be restored when international law is applied selectively and commitments remain unfulfilled. Our response must be grounded in the fundamental values we have affirmed together freedom, equality, justice and respect for human dignity. President Tokayev has repeatedly underscored the indispensable role of the United Nations as a single universal platform, uniquely capable of bringing the states together to address the challenges we face. But to fulfil its potential, UN must be able to act, adapt and deliver. We fully support the UN-80 initiative. The success of the reform should be measured not by what is cut or reorganised, but by whether the United Nations prevents conflicts more effectively, responds more rapidly to crisis and delivers better results for all member states. Central to this renewal is reform of the Security Council. Broader representation of Asia, Africa and Latin America in the Council, as well as greater voice for developing countries and for middle powers, is a moral imperative. Equitable geographical representation must apply throughout the United Nations system as a condition of legitimacy and credibility. The selection of the next Secretary-General will be one of the defining moments of this session, and Kazakhstan supports a transparent, inclusive and merit based process conducted in full accordance with the Charter. Mr. president, the international security environment continues to deteriorate. World military expenditures reached a record $2.9 trillion in 2025. Our small planet is home to more than 12,000 nuclear weapons, each one capable of untold damage and sorrow. Every year we seem to lose more biodiversity, yet gain more armaments. For Kazakhstan, nuclear disarmament in particular is not an abstract doctrine. It's a responsibility born of national experience. This year marks 35 years since the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site 30 years since the CTBT opened for signature, and 20 years since the signing of the Treaty on Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in Central Asia. Our experience of renouncing the world's fourth largest nuclear arsenal did not weaken our state. To the contrary through international trust, it strengthens sovereignty, enhanced security and promotes development. Today the trust is again in danger. New START has expired, while the 2026 NPT Review Conference ended without substantive outcome for the third consecutive cycle. Nuclear weapon states must never confuse the absence of agreement with the vacuum of obligation. They remain responsible until we secure a world free of nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan advocates the relaunch of high level dialogue among nuclear powers, and is ready to host one of their next meetings. We will also continue advancing our earlier proposal to strengthen the BWC through establishing an international agency for biological security. Distinguished delegates. Peace and stability are prerequisites for sustainable development. We stand firmly for diplomacy and dialogue, and against the escalation of tension and the use of force.
The control of these powerful tools must not remain in the hands of a select few. They must serve humanity, not the other way around. In particular, the development of lethal autonomous weapon system raises profound moral questions. In this critical domain, Pope Leo provides clear criteria for discernment. The first concerns personal responsibility. The second pertains to the moral time frame for making judgments. The third is the protection of civilians. These criteria give rise to certain non-negotiable requirements. First of all, systems used in war setting must guarantee the possibility of retracing and reconstructing decision making processes so that accountability and blame are not collapsed into the machine. Second, the decision to use lethal force cannot be delegated to opaque or automated processes, but must remain under effective, self-aware, and responsible human control. Finally, it is imperative to establish a shared framework also at the international level in order to curb the technological arms race and ensure robust protection for civilians and the infrastructures necessary for their survival. For some years now, the world has spiraled into violence that has progressively spread and intensified, continually opening up new theatres of war. The Holy See strongly emphasized the urgent need for an immediate and total cessation of hostility as a prerequisite for any serious engagement in restoring and building the future.
A Security Council that is both legitimate and effective, measured in its ability to take meaningful action. President, there is no lack of challenges to be tackled. While wars and geopolitical tensions dominate the agenda, we must not lose sight of our most important shared responsibility, which is to take better care of the planet on which we all depend. Climate change, biodiversity loss and rampant pollution threatens life, property and prosperity everywhere. The catastrophic floods that struck the Himalayas last month is yet another stark reminder of the growing risk associated with climate change. The good news is that reducing emissions and ensuring a more responsible management of the world's natural resources is possible. We already have the insights and technologies to make this transition possible, and they are increasingly competitive from an economic perspective, as seen by the fast falling costs of renewable energy. But we can only succeed if we cooperate. We cannot put fences around our own climate, our own biosphere, or deal with the ills of our oceans on our own. President. We live in an era of artificial intelligence.
Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General and distinguished delegates when it comes to peace on the Korean Peninsula, the Republic of Korea knows firsthand the change that the United Nations has brought about. 35 years ago, the two Koreas were admitted to the UN as members on this very stage. It was a crucial turning point that laid the foundation for peaceful co-existence, freeing us from the relentless rivalry and confrontation that followed our division. One year ago, I stated from this stage that the Republic of Korea would begin a new journey toward peaceful coexistence and shared growth on the Korean Peninsula. Today, as we set out on this new journey, I would like to present to the international community the three blueprints for the road to peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula. First is inclusive peaceful coexistence built on mutual respect. Based on the respect for each other's systems and acknowledgment of our differences, we will explore ways for shared growth through cooperation. We will continue to respect the North on the international stage and seek cooperation wherever possible. We hope that opportunities will emerge for us to work together in the international community in areas such as public health, disaster response and the climate crisis. Second is stable, peaceful coexistence that renders conflict unnecessary. We will work to institute mechanisms for preventing crisis and managing conflicts. Reestablishing basic channels of communication, and building trust will be the first step toward a stable, peaceful coexistence. Third is responsible peaceful coexistence contributing to world peace. We will go beyond building a Korean Peninsula free from war and nuclear weapons to promoting stability and cooperation in Northeast Asia, while actively contributing to global efforts to build a world free from war and conflict. The most critical task is to bring an end to this decades old war on the Korean Peninsula and establish a lasting peace regime. For decades, the two Koreas, along with key countries such as the US and China, have recognized the need for a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and discussed ways to achieve it. Fortunately, President Trump's resolve has recently created a hard won opportunity for change. I hope the long suspended dialogue between North Korea and the US can resume without delay. We will lay the groundwork for this to develop into a dialogue among the parties aimed at ending the war on the Korean Peninsula and transitioning to a peace regime. I am confident that the dialogue for establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula can provide a valuable framework, not only for normalizing relations among the parties concerned, but also for fostering shared growth through multilateral cooperation and promoting stability and cooperation in Northeast Asia.
After years of political division and polarization that have drained the state and society, Libya no longer needs more crisis management, but rather the will to end the crisis. Our goal is clear: a unified sovereign state whose institutions derive their legitimacy from the will of its people. The path to that goal is a return to the people through constitutional and legal mechanisms, referendums, and free and fair elections. The people are the source of legitimacy, and it is they who can give institutions their unity and stability. Temporary deals cannot do so, nor can fragile settlements that collapse whenever the balance of power shifts or loyalties change. Here, we welcome the effort and intention of every state sincerely seeking to end the political and institutional division. We also appreciate the role entrusted to the United Nations support mission in Libya and its responsibility for facilitating the political process. Nevertheless, past experience obliges us to be clear. Any sustainable political process must not violate four governing principles. First, respect for legitimacy and for the constitutional and legal frameworks in force, without circumventing them or creating political arrangements outside established frameworks and procedures. Second, the principle of national ownership is a red line. International mediation must not turn into custodianship or into solutions crafted from abroad. The will of Libyans is the foundation, and the inclusion of all the different parties without exclusion or imposition is the true guarantee of the sustainability of any solution. Third, ensuring equal opportunities for all parties, as well as rejecting the use of force, influence, or fait accompli to impose predetermined political outcomes. Fourth, commitment to transparency in understandings and agreements. This requires defining the phases of implementation, their timelines, and the entities responsible for them. It also requires establishing clear mechanisms for oversight and accountability so as to ensure outcomes that are implementable, legally sound, and capable of producing legitimate and stable institutions. Experience has taught us that fragile settlements can begin to unravel as soon as the balance of power shifts or their outcomes emerge. Any arrangements that disregard national legal frameworks expose themselves to challenge and dispute. They reproduce the crisis rather than end it.
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No. 16
South Sudan09/28 · first at about 12 min2 mentions
The government bears the primary responsibility for protecting its citizens, maintaining public order and safeguarding the electoral process. South Sudan, therefore, continues to call for constructive engagements with the Security Council concerning restrictive measures, including the arms embargo. South Sudan objective is not militarisation. The objective is to develop professional, unified discipline and accountable security forces operating under the civilian authority and the rule of law. South Sudan believes that accountability and national capacity should reinforce themselves. We therefore call for the lifting of all restrictive measures. Sanctions must be instruments for achieving clear defined objectives. They should not become permanent substitute for political engagements and institution buildings. Mr. President, South Sudan remains grateful for the contribution of the United Nations mission in South Sudan. We recognise the men and women who served under the United Nations flag, particularly those who have lost their lives in the service of peace. As South Sudan advanced its transition, international engagement must also evolve. President Kiir's vision is not for South Sudan to remain indefinitely dependent upon international peacekeeping. The objective must be a South Sudan capable of sustaining its own peacekeeping. South Sudan, therefore, calls for a greater emphasis on peace building, institutional development, continuous capacity building, and we are also keen to establishing partnership invest in South Sudan police and judiciary, invest in public administration, invest in education and healthcare, invest in infrastructure, invest in women and young people. Invest in institutions that will sustain peace long after peacekeepers have departed. The ultimate measure of a successful peacekeeping should be the establishment of a condition under which peacekeeping is no longer required. South Sudan, therefore, seeks a responsible transition from managing crisis towards building a lasting national capacity. Mr. President, peace cannot be sustained without development. And at independence, South Sudan inherited extremely limited infrastructure and institutional capacity. Nation building, state building and service delivery have therefore have to proceed simultaneously. President Kiir has placed particular emphasis on agriculture, infrastructure, education, healthcare and economic diversification.
But today I am once again speaking before you with a different mindset. I do not seek to denounce, but rather to share with you factual elements about the progress and the headway that has been made by the Republic of Guinea as we have achieved results that have emanated from the choices that we have made. On the basis of our constitution, the Republic of Guinea organized an entire direct presidential and legislative communal elections, and we have established all institutions which are entirely financed by our Treasury. And I state this with a rightful sense of pride that none of these elections that were held throughout our territory, none of these elections were marred by any significant incidents on the part of any of the participants in this electoral process, and this reflects the fact, ladies and gentlemen, that a country can organize independently using its own resources, credible, peaceful, and transparent elections. This constitution that we have adopted introduces profound innovations in terms of peaceful coexistence, as well as greater representation of our localities and our communities, as well as novel guarantees for peaceful transfer of power, and includes recognition of our cultural, linguistic, religious, and cultural plurality as the bedrock of our nation, and not as a divisive factor. And this I state with a sense of legitimate pride. All of these elections were organized on our soil, once again, without any assistance from any party whatsoever. Ladies and gentlemen, I did not come here to exercise emphatic, but I do believe it is worthwhile to share with you, to share a simple overview and useful information about what our Republic of Guinea has achieved in less than three years. We have paved more than 1,000 kilometers of roads which have connected our regions. We have the Simandou Mega Project, which is Africa's largest mining and infrastructure project, which is currently complete. We have schools and hospitals that have been built throughout all of the Republic of Guinea. Three aluminum refineries which are under construction as we seek to transform our bauxite on our own soil. We have Africa's largest gold refinery, which is currently operational, and this has already been completed. And we have a sustainable and responsible socioeconomic development program for my country for the next 15 years that I refer to the Simandou 2040 project. The Simandou 2040 program embodies a structural transformation initiative for our economy. This is not merely a mining project. This represents a meaningful strategic lever in order to accelerate the development of infrastructure as well as agriculture, energy, education, health, not to mention— these are just a few. And these are results that we have achieved in less than three months, and I'm not mentioning them merely out of a sense of hope. They reflect a conviction which I wish to share with this General Assembly. Our most valuable asset remains our youth, and we must provide them with high-quality education, with training opportunities reflected to meet the needs of the labor market through the Simandou Economy Academy initiative, as well as meaningful opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship.
These are not unrealistic propositions. They are the only possible foundations of a stable world. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a reliable and responsible member of the United Nations. Among other things, I would like to remind that Bosnia and Herzegovina is aware of climate change and committed to contributing to global efforts committed to the transition towards renewable energy sources and the reduction of harmful gas emissions, and determined to combat all forms of terrorism.
We are the largest coffee exporter in Central America and the fifth largest globally. 57% of the coffee which Honduras exports is coffee recognized to be of extremely high quality, as well as accredited and specialized coffee. That is a reflection of the quality of our production and its standard of excellence. Honduras sees its agriculture, fisheries, and poultry industries as fundamental pillars for economic development, as well as for food security and job creation. Our commitment is to breathe momentum into these sectors sustainably. We want to empower our producers and bring high-quality Honduran products to international markets. Our land harbors mineral wealth with vast potential that has yet to be harnessed. We have the opportunity to develop a modern, responsible, and sustainable mining industry so that we can create employment and transform these resources into development and prosperity for our people.
Ladies and gentlemen, attacks on information integrity pose an especially troubling challenge to every society. Disinformation, foreign information manipulation and interference and the falsification of history, erode trust, restrict civic space and target journalists and human rights defenders. As a result, human rights, democracy and security suffer. This risk is further enhanced by the development of artificial intelligence. As we all know, AI has a huge potential for transformation, especially in the field of economy. Whole sectors, including those related to defence and security might get radically changed or destroyed almost overnight. As any instrument, AI is also increasingly used by those seeking to cause harm and destruction. My country, Lithuania strongly believes that the future of AI must not be determined by authoritarian control, technological coercion or the malicious use of data. We are therefore investing in trusted AI capabilities, promoting responsible AI deployment and advancing the Vilnius Convention, the world's first legally binding international treaty on artificial intelligence. By demonstrating how shared principles can be translated into concrete legal commitments, we hope to contribute significantly to the United Nations Global Dialogue on AI Governance. Lithuania invites the international community to unite in addressing significant legal, ethical and strategic challenges posed by artificial intelligence. With even major technology companies sending warning signals that control of AI might slip out of humanity's hands, the time is ripe for collective action. Together, we must ensure that AI serves human dignity, sustainable development, and international security rather than becoming a new instrument of inequality, manipulation or conflict. At any cost, human accountability, international law and the peace and security must be safeguarded. Ladies and gentlemen, the credibility of the United Nations depends on its ability to respond firmly to aggression, unlawful conquest, forced deportations and crimes against humanity, and also to coordinate the global response to the growth of AI.
At the same time, we must secure our future by ensuring responsible behavior in outer space, reducing space threats and preventing an arms race in outer space. We also urge a renewed and rigorous commitment to Non-Proliferation treaty, the cornerstone of the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation architecture. Restoring trust in the NPT is imperative if we are to achieve our shared vision of a world free from existential threat of nuclear weapons. Closer to home the Philippines own journey toward lasting peace, exemplified by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, has taught us an invaluable lesson.
We are a credible and reliable partner, ready to contribute to shared prosperity. Ladies and gentlemen, we have entered the fifth year of the illegal, unprovoked, and unjustified full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, waged by a permanent member of the Security Council. This member, entrusted by the entire UN community with the responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, has deliberately disavowed its fundamental obligation and is pursuing a revisionist agenda. As the EU member state sharing the longest border with Ukraine, Romania has felt the effects of this war directly, through repeated violations of our airspace. A few months back, a drone crashed onto a residential building on our territory, injuring people and causing material damage. It was one episode in an ongoing series of such incidents. We have said it before, and we will say it again: Romania will stand with Ukraine and its people, as they exercise their legitimate right to self-defense for as long as necessary. Moreover, Romania is acting responsibly to stabilize the region. We provided assistance to refugees from Ukraine. In response to Russia's attacks on ports and grain infrastructure, which disrupted global food supply chains and deepened food insecurity for millions of people, Romania has coordinated with Ukraine on the transit of grain through Romania, by rail and by waterway. In response to the disruption of freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, together with Bulgaria and Türkiye, Romania is part of the Mine Countermeasures Task Group in the Black Sea. Through mine detection and mine neutralization missions and the protection of critical undersea infrastructure, this initiative safeguards freedom of navigation and the region's energy security. And in order to enhance security in the Black Sea area, Romania places particular emphasis on the EU's strategic approach. Accordingly, together with Bulgaria, we are establishing a maritime security hub aimed at strengthening situational awareness. Finally, in response to disruptions to energy supplies in the region, Romania has expanded its energy interconnections with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Romania will continue to support the resilience of our neighbor, the Republic of Moldova, the second most affected country by this war. It is facing the economic shock caused by Russia's aggression and a sustained hybrid campaign, consisting of disseminating disinformation, energy pressure, and attempts to destabilize its democratic institutions. Romania is a staunch supporter of the Republic of Moldova in the face of these challenges. Romania also remains the Republic of Moldova's strongest advocate within the European Union, sharing our own experience of accession and providing political, technical, and diplomatic support for its European path. The threat posed by the Russian Federation is not only limited to Ukraine. Europe is the target of a hybrid war involving cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, sabotage, and disruptions to critical infrastructure, with the aim of undermining citizens' trust in democratic institutions and discouraging support for Ukraine. We must deter the Russian threat, and unfortunately, we can only do that by increasing military spending. Romania supports balancing military expenditure and a target of 5% of GDP, reaching this year 3.7%. Distinguished audience, we are equally concerned about the proliferation of conflicts worldwide. It is essential to advance the implementation of the Peace Plan for Gaza in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2803, and to address, with no delay, the humanitarian situation on the ground. Within the Board of Peace Initiative, Romania has offered its support and has so far contributed to the medical evacuation of numerous patients, especially children. Disarming Hamas remains a prerequisite condition for lasting stability in Gaza. President Trump's Peace Plan represents the most credible path toward peace and prosperity in the region, and Romania supports its full implementation. At the same time, recent developments in the West Bank are a genuine reason for concern and risk undermining the peace that this plan seeks to promote. Regarding Iran, our position is clear: Iran must not possess a nuclear weapon. Iran must comply with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and restore full transparency regarding its nuclear program. Diplomacy must be the first option toward a comprehensive, verifiable, and lasting agreement that would pave the way toward a more stable Middle East. Romania will continue to promote maritime security and unrestricted freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as in the Black Sea area and elsewhere. It is a shared responsibility and a priority to my country. Specialized bodies such as the International Maritime Organization can make a contribution to this effort. The suspension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, following Russia's unilateral withdrawal in 2023, reminds us that agreements only matter when the parties honor their commitments. Lasting peace in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Libya, in the Sahel, and in all regions of Africa affected by conflict. Romania is contributing to conflict prevention, mediation, peacebuilding, and economic recovery, while stressing the importance of African solutions, in full respect of the charter. Prevention and mediation must play a greater role. Peacekeeping operations must have a clear mandate, produce measurable results, ensure responsible financing, and equitably distribute responsibilities. Since 1991, Romania has contributed to United Nations peacekeeping missions through political support, troop and equipment contributions, as well as through training of blue helmets and close protection officers.
If AI is available only to a few, new divisions will appear. Entire communities may be left behind. The growing use of AI-powered weapons and autonomous systems also requires urgent attention. One principle must remain clear: machines should never be allowed to make life or death decisions on their own. Just as the international community developed rules for nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, we also need strong international frameworks for these new technologies. The United Nations can and should play a leading role in this effort. AI is not only a potential threat on the battlefield; it is already having a negative impact on society, especially in education. An entire generation of young people is being affected. Recent assessments show declining test scores across the vast majority of countries. This is a concerning trend that deserves open and serious discussion on international platforms such as the United Nations. At the same time, we should not see AI only as a risk. It can be also a tool for peace. It can help us analyze information, identify patterns, and overcome language barriers in real time. It can support better decisions, faster responses, and more effective prevention. With responsible use, proper human oversight, and good governance, we can move this technology away from the battlefield and toward diplomacy, mediation, and conflict prevention. And prevention matters. Every conflict we prevent saves lives. It protects development. It preserves human dignity. Once violence begins, every solution becomes harder, more costly, and more painful.
This is the promise that the UAE makes to its people and to all who call it home. And it is also the bedrock of our international partnerships, particularly with the nations of the Global South and the African continent, which have matured into an enduring strategic cooperation rooted in mutual respect and shared interests. The UAE continues to expand its investments in artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, healthcare and education. We are also strengthening our position as a trusted and responsible leader in the energy sector, balancing the needs of today with bold investment in solutions of tomorrow and driving the historic commitments of the UAE Consensus toward long term collective action.
The difference our decisions make in the lives and livelihoods of people is the standard against which the credibility of the United Nations must be measured. Botswana is ready to work with all member states. We may be small in size, but we are steady in principle. We offer partnership in governance that delivers experience in health innovation, responsible stewardship of natural and mineral resources, and enduring preference for dialogue.
But the international system can widen or narrow our choices. Technology transfer, resilient supply chains and accessible finance expand choice. Technological dependence, external shocks and unsustainable debt limits it. This is why reform of the international financial architecture matters. We must implement the Sevilla Commitment and deliver on its promises on finance, debt and reform. Earlier this year, the Maldives joined other developing countries in launching the Borrowers’ Platform. It must become a lasting mechanism that gives developing countries not just a place in the financial system, but a voice in shaping it. But for SIDS, greater agency also depends on progress at home. We must build our institutions, improve stability, and attract responsible investment and meaningful partnerships. And these partnerships must build national capacity and support national ambitions. Partnerships must serve national needs, strengthen what we have and leave us more capable than before. Our shared challenges can become shared opportunities. This is the spirit of President Dr Muizzu’s Maldives First policy.
It is a responsibility that grows more urgent each day, especially as UNEP's latest findings make clear that the world is now certain to exceed 1.5. This reality must strengthen our resolve to deliver what we have promised, prepare our communities for the impacts science tells us are inevitable. Small island states, young people, scientists, civil society, indigenous communities, and responsible partners have already raised climate ambition, accelerated the shift to renewable energy, and exposed the true cost of inaction. We have called for ambition that matches science, demonstrated that ocean stewardship can protect while supporting livelihoods, and insisted on a stronger voice for small island states in decisions that shape our future.
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No. 28
Saudi Arabia09/26 · first at about 12 min1 mention
This reflects our responsibility towards the region and the world. In light of the rapid developments the world is witnessing in the field of artificial intelligence, the Kingdom stresses the importance of harnessing these technologies in the service of humanity and development, and enhancing international cooperation to ensure the responsible use. The Kingdom has taken a leading role in establishing the international network of artificial intelligence capacity building centres, one of the recommendations emanating from the Pact for the Future. The Kingdom also hosts the International Centre for Research and Ethics in AI in Riyadh under the auspices of Unesco, thereby strengthening international cooperation in this field and contributing to the consolidation of ethical principles governing the development and use of AI applications. In conclusion, our world today is in need of the greatest possible measure of wisdom, responsibility and cooperation. The challenges confronting us cannot be addressed by any state on its own. Security can only be consolidated and sustained through adherence to the principles upon which the UN Charter is founded, as well as through a respect for international law.
It is less about doing things for others than doing things with them. This principle takes on particular significance in the face of current technological revolutions. AI is the most obvious illustration of this. It offers considerable new possibilities in science, the economy, medicine, education, and the management of resources. But it also highlights the risk of a new divide between those who have the skills and infrastructure needed to participate in this transformation, and those who are likely to feel only its effects. We must ensure that technological progress broadens opportunities without widening the gaps. This means that as many countries and societies as possible must be able to benefit from advances in AI, develop their skills and contribute to the debate on the rules that will govern its development and use. This is exactly the aim of the Geneva AI summit, which will take place on the 21st and 22nd of June 2027 under the motto Bridging Innovation and Trust. These two concepts must go hand in hand. Innovation in which societies no longer have confidence risks being rejected. Conversely, rules that would prevent all innovation would deprive us of enormous potential. Our responsibility, therefore, is to strike a balance to enable progress and promote its benefits, while creating the conditions for the reliable and responsible development and use of these technologies. Artificial intelligence thus reminds us of a simple truth. Certain changes are so far reaching and so fast moving, that no single state can manage all of their consequences by itself.
From primarily a recipient of invaluable assistance during the years of Doi Moi, Vietnam today is making proactive contributions to our common endeavours while deepening and broadening our substantive relations with the UN. Vietnamese military personnel and police officers have served and will continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations, carrying our nation's aspiration for peace to places where peace remains fragile. A tradition of independence and self-reliance provides a foundation for Vietnam to strengthen its strategic autonomy and proactively pursue international integration. Looking towards our goal of becoming a developing country with a modern industrial base and upper middle income by 2030 and developed high income country by 2045, Vietnam is establishing a new development model based on productivity, quality and added value with science, technology, innovation and digital transformation as key drivers, with economic growth closely linked to cultural development, social progress and equity and environmental protection. Autonomy also means proactively adapting and cooperating with the world on an equal footing. Vietnam, therefore, pursues a consistent foreign policy of independence, autonomy, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, and of multilateralism and diversification of external relations. Vietnam will remain steadfast in upholding the UN charter and international law, promoting dialogue on the peaceful settlement of disputes and deepening its participation in UN peacekeeping missions. Vietnam is working with fellow ASEAN member states to build a united, self-reliant and resilient ASEAN and actively preparing to host APEC in 2027 and as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Vietnam champions dialogue and cooperation in promoting and protecting human rights and ensuring that all can share the fruits of development. We stand ready to share our experience in poverty reduction, agricultural development and climate change adaptation, and work with partners to broaden cooperation for common interests. The world will continue to change. The direction for such change will depend on the choices we make and the responsibilities we shoulder today. Vietnam chooses peace, cooperation and development. We will work steadfastly with all countries to strengthen the UN, uphold international law and translate our shared commitments into tangible benefits for our people. We believe that with a strong UN, together we can build a more peaceful, equitable, inclusive and better world for all. And on this journey, Vietnam will remain an active member, a reliable partner and a responsible nation, always standing ready to contribute to the common endeavours of the international community.
Critical minerals must become a foundation for inclusive development with a value addition and beneficiation at source, along with the development of regional value chains being highly prioritized. Zimbabwe has more than 40 critical and rare earth minerals, and we have made bold decisions towards a mutually beneficial extractive industry. This has seen us dispatch the first export of locally produced lithium sulfate during the second quarter of the year, demonstrating that remaining value added resource retaining value at the source is possible for shared prosperity. Harnessing emerging technologies for national development is a key priority for our industrialisation agenda. Zimbabwe's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2026 to 2030 promotes human centred, ethical and responsible innovation. Artificial intelligence must narrow development gaps while its military use, including in nuclear command and control, must remain subject to human judgment, accountability and international law. Regrettably, however, my country's national development initiatives have continued to be undermined by unilateral coercive measures imposed by some Western countries. We call for their immediate and unconditional removal. I reiterate Zimbabwe is a friend to all and an enemy to none unless you choose to be an enemy.
It is the clearest expression of the principle that the force of law must always prevail over the law of force. It is precisely for this reason that we continue to firmly defend the need to uphold the Charter of the UN and international law. We also support, more than ever, the efforts of the International Criminal Court to identify those responsible for the gravest crimes, and we condemn any act of aggression—once again, and unambiguously— that violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a state. In this sense, we continue to express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the face of the consequences of a war that has lasted for far too long already, and we reiterate our support for efforts aimed at achieving a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the UN and international law. We do so for the people of Ukraine, and also for all territories and populations where the threat of conflict continues to rage. Similarly, we reaffirm that a negotiated solution based upon the coexistence of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace, security, and mutual recognition, remains the most solid path toward achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. On the other hand, we hope that a peaceful solution can be found in Lebanon that fully respects the sovereignty of all countries involved. We cannot resign ourselves to turning human suffering into a statistic: behind every victim is a life cut short, behind every child killed, a future that disappears, behind every school or hospital destroyed, a part of our shared humanity that has failed. For this reason, we are particularly concerned by the increase in attacks against civilians, humanitarian personnel, and United Nations staff who are carrying out their mission, often under extreme conditions and at extraordinary personal risk. The conclusions of the last SG's report on children in armed conflict and conflict-related sexual violence, are especially alarming: the figures presented are not only dramatic, they are morally unacceptable. For the first time, the primary perpetrators of these violations are states themselves, which should be the ultimate guarantors of the protection of their citizens. Given this reality, Andorra will continue to act.
We are making the largest defence investments in generations, allocating over $80 billion in last year's federal budget. We are now spending over 2% of our GDP on defence. And we are building toward NATO's 5% pledge by 2035. These investments are strengthening our ability to protect Canada and to contribute to peace and security around the world. Canada is an Arctic nation, and the Arctic is central to our identity, our security, and our future. The Arctic is a region of growing competition, and for many Canadians, it is simply home. This is why we are investing in Arctic security in consultation with Indigenous Peoples. Their participation is a key element of our commitment to reconciliation. As we mark the 30th anniversary of the Arctic Council, we continue to strive for a region of cooperation. And to this end Canada has opened a new consulate in Nuuk, Greenland. And we are strengthening our ties with our Arctic partners. Canada welcomes the recent agreement between Greenland, Denmark and the United States to strengthen security in Greenland and the High North. This agreement is yet another reminder that North America and Europe are stronger together. And as a founding member of NATO, our commitment to the transatlantic alliance is ironclad. Alongside our NATO allies, Canada remains resolute in our support for Ukraine. We share Ukraine's commitment to restoring a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, one based on respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Canada is dedicated to advancing the unconditional return of Ukrainian children, unlawfully detained civilians and prisoners of war. Next week I will host with Norway and Ukraine a conference on this urgent issue in Toronto. And Canada with Ukraine will continue to work together to support safe and secure navigation in the Black Sea by strengthening Ukraine's port infrastructure and disrupting and deterring the illegal activities of Russia's shadow fleet. Canada is also a Pacific nation, and we are absolutely committed to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. We have increased our naval presence in the Indo-Pacific and are offering the Dark Vessel Detection Program to our partners. We will continue to implement UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea. And by working with our regional partners, we are cracking down on transnational crime, including scam centres. Canada's position on Iran is unequivocal. Iran is the principal threat to peace and security in its region. It must never acquire a nuclear weapon. Its threats to navigation rights in the Strait of Hormuz are a direct affront to international law. We join our Gulf and European partners in strongly condemning Iran's attacks in the region, and Canada is deploying every available tool, including targeted sanctions, that I announced this week to confront the Iranian regime's abhorrent behavior. Here at the United Nations, Canada will again lead the resolution in this very room in the General Assembly on Human Rights in Iran, because we stand firmly with the Iranian people against repression and for human rights dignity and aspirations for a better life. Nearer home, the people of Haiti deserve stability, security, and the opportunity to build a better future. We commend the many countries who proposed their assistance to the Gang Suppression Force, in particular the United States. Even if the population in Haiti is still facing significant challenges, we're encouraged by the measures taken by the government of Haiti to prepare for the elections, a sign of progress and hope. Throughout the world, Canada will remain a voice that can be trusted to defend maritime security, international law and the responsible development of artificial intelligence.
Croatia will continue to support merit based EU enlargement. EU membership can turn borders of division into lines of cooperation and reforms on paper, into stronger institutions and better living standards. But European transformation requires honesty about the past. Reconciliation becomes possible when responsibility for the crimes of the past is acknowledged and their glorification rejected. That standard allows no national exceptions. That means respect for victims and clear rejection of historical revisionism, not the glorification of war criminals. Ratko Mladić was a convicted war criminal responsible for the Srebrenica genocide, the first genocide in Europe since the Holocaust. While his criminal record reached its nefarious culmination in Srebrenica, his trail of war crimes stretches further back to the shelling of Croatian cities, the murder of civilians the mining of dams and the destruction of cultural heritage and industrial facilities. The military and official honours accorded to Mladić in Serbia were an affront to his victims and to the judgments of international courts. The participation of state representatives and the public acclaim that accompanied the ceremony is totally incompatible with the values of a Union Serbia seeks to join. The same commitment to equality and reform should guide Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a signatory to the Dayton Peace Accords, and a neighbour and a friend of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia is one of the strongest advocates of its European future. The Dayton Peace Accords ended the war and established the constitutional framework for Bosnia and Herzegovina. One state, two entities and three constituent peoples Croats, Bosniaks and Serbs. That balance is the foundation on which peace was built. Yet the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina are still being denied legitimate representation, including in the presidency of the country. That is unjust, destabilizing and contrary to the spirit of Dayton. The solution is neither division nor domination.
In an era of polycrisis, isolation is the antithesis of responsibility and a luxury we cannot afford. Cyprus proved to be an active and responsible party of the international community, a contributor in crisis management, an actor in humanitarian assistance, a proponent of regional synergies, and a defender of the protection of human rights and multilateralism. Esteemed delegates, in this time of transformation, the credibility of the UN must be safeguarded. And credibility requires consistency in the application of international law.
The Head of State of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea stated that our national sovereignty and security have firmly been ensured by virtue of a great strength so far, and will invariably be so in the years ahead. The DPRK's nuclear deterrent, is the absolute might and irresistible force designed from A to Z to safeguard the sovereignty, security and peace against aggression and threat from outside. I would like to reiterate the official position of the DPRK government, the status of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as a nuclear weapons state that has been uncompromisingly and permanently fixed, both physically and legally, with absolutely no turning point, can never be reversed in any circumstances or by any means, no matter how hard and loudly the hostile forces may deny in chorus with all sorts of rhetoric. The DPRK will continue to strictly control and manage every external threat by dint of her supremacy in overwhelming strength, and be all the more faithful and committed to our mission as a responsible nuclear weapons state to firmly defend national sovereignty and fundamental interests, and to guarantee peace and security of the region and beyond.
For decades, resolutions have been adopted, yet occupation and violence have continued. We cannot speak of peace while ignoring Palestine. Lasting peace in West Asia is impossible without justice for Palestine. As long as occupation, aggression, and injustice persist in the world, resistance will continue. If it is weakened in one form, it will reemerge in others, perhaps stronger still. Gaza, despite relentless killing and widespread devastation, has strengthened the people's faith in resistance. And resistance cannot be destroyed by bombs and siege. This is human nature. If a human being is driven from his or her land, they will resist. If their homes are subjected to bombings and aggression and attacks, they will resist. What other choice do they have? Succumb to bullying? To be driven from their homes, from their lands, and remain silent in the face of these threats and dangers? And when they defend themselves, they're labeled as terrorists? The language makes it, unfortunately, clear the type of world that we're living in today. Our regional issues must be resolved in the region, at the hands of the countries in the region, without becoming a toy in the hands of outside aggressors. No relationship with a foreign power can become the tools of threatening neighboring countries in the region. And now, a few words with those who are responsible for having planned and carried out aggressions against our country and our people have experienced firsthand the result of their deadly aggression. And they have tested the strength and the steadfastness of Iran, and they have learned that Iran cannot be made to surrender. Iran has never, ever been an aggressor, has never started a war, and has always shown her commitment to the negotiating table. They imposed the war on us, but we proved—we have proven—that we're not afraid of fighting, of war, a war that is defensive in nature. And we will stand in defense of our beloved Iran, our homeland, until our last breath. Ladies and gentlemen, the topic of this gathering is mutual trust. That cannot be achieved through words only, but by abstaining from using double standards.
Your excellencies, we see the cost of that neglect every day. In my region, from Lebanon to Yemen to Sudan, protracted conflict is deepening humanitarian suffering. And if anyone had any doubt that a crisis in our part of the world stays there, just look at the energy and grocery bills of ordinary families, from Mumbai to Madrid to Minnesota. The Iran war has shown how quickly instability can disrupt trade, investment and lives beyond the region. And then there is Gaza. For decades, I've stood before this assembly and warned of the dangers of leaving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict unresolved. But the international community chose to manage the conflict, not confront it. And every new Israeli violation was treated as temporary, diverting attention from the reality being created on the ground until temporary became permanent and permanent became policy. Of course, this is not the world's only injustice, but one of the world's longest running occupations forces a basic question if international law can be ignored for decades, then what exactly is that law worth and how can we enforce it if we won't even call out its violations? In Gaza, the evidence is overwhelming. In the first 300 days of the so-called cease fire, at least 300 Palestinian children were killed. Jordan's field hospitals have also been targeted. President Trump has pushed hard for peace and a path to end this war. But this Israeli government keeps moving the goalposts, continuing its attacks and destruction of civilian infrastructure, refusing to withdraw and squeezing Palestinians into barely a third of Gaza. This can no longer be dismissed as temporary military measures or a consequence of war. Accountability begins when we call things for what they are, an attempt to erase Palestinian life and impose a new territorial reality in Gaza. And while the world has been focused on Gaza, something extraordinarily dangerous is unfolding in the West Bank. Some may think we have seen this before settlements, violence, displacement, more of the same, but it is not. Nor is it simply an escalation. This is a fundamental shift. What was once a creeping process has exploded into something far more aggressive. Settler violence is rampant. Palestinians are being beaten, shot and terrorized, homes torched, property destroyed, families driven from their land and Israel is tightening its grip on more of the West Bank, seizing land, expanding settlements and pushing the Palestinians out. It is time to see what is happening for what it really is, because when the language is sanitized, the actions become normalized. Demolishing Palestinian homes to expand illegal settlements is not law enforcement. It is forcible transfer. Appropriating occupied land is not land registration. It is de facto annexation. A choking network of checkpoints and barriers is not security infrastructure. It is a system of subjugation. Systematic attacks on Palestinian communities are not settler unrest. The Israeli government criticizes the violence before the international audiences. They call those responsible a handful of rioters. They assure us that Israel is a country governed by law. Yet what's happening on the ground says otherwise. Israeli soldiers stand by as settlers attacked Palestinians, often protecting the attackers or joining them. They have blocked ambulances from reaching the injured. They have targeted international journalists who are trying to say the truth. And when soldiers watch, enable and sometimes even participate in violence against civilians, this is no longer about a handful of rioters. And the question is no longer whether a few extremists are breaking the law. The question is, is this the behavior of a democratic state governed by law? What is unfolding across the West Bank is not a series of isolated acts. It is elements of a single policy to compel an entire population to leave their land. And there is a name for that forced displacement, and that is a war crime. Your excellencies, if we are to resolve the Palestinian Israeli conflict, the world must abandon some illusions. The first is that Gaza and the West Bank are separate stories. They are not. They are two fronts of the same Israeli strategy. In both, Palestinians are being killed. In both, the reality on the ground is being remade. Gaza through destruction. The West Bank through de facto annexation. The objective is the same to make a viable Palestinian state impossible. Another illusion is that this Israeli leadership's rejection of Palestinian statehood is a position that might yet change. It is not. It is cemented on the ground. This government has been accelerating settlements and land seizures, but it began long before. Since Oslo, the map has changed piece by piece, settlement by settlement, and the most dangerous illusion that the Arab world never sought peace. The Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 offered Israel normalization with 57 Arab and Muslim states, including Iran and Iraq at the time, in exchange for peace and Palestinian statehood. For over 20 years, that offer has stood. The obstacle hasn't been the absence of a partner for peace, but the absence of an Israeli government willing to accept it. This Israeli government understands the power of attention, and lately it has not liked the attention it's been getting. When confronted with evidence of wrongdoing, rather than change the course, it opts for distraction, discrediting its critics. It has also tried to cast this conflict as a war of religions Islam on one side, Judaism and Christianity on the other. It is not. This is about whether Palestinians, Muslims and Christians are entitled to the same rights as everyone else. Distractions will not fly anymore. People across the world are paying attention. The question now is, will we act? Because the world's political inaction is not for lack of options. So let's call it for what it is a choice. We have tools, sanctions, asset freezes, embargoes, diplomatic isolation, and we have a record of using them elsewhere. Yet with Israel, resolutions end where they began on paper. The result is a state without restraint. This government's sense of impunity has reached terrifying levels. It no longer feels compelled to ask, can we get away with this? It already knows the answer, and that is precisely why no one in this assembly should assume its ambitions stop at Palestine. This Israeli government's expansionist appetite is now a regional threat. And today Syria is the warning the international community is choosing not to see. Repeated incursions, creeping territorial expansion, new facts imposed on the ground, including around vital water resources, step by calculated step, Israel is testing how far it can go, and every time the international community looks away, Israel learns that it can go even further across borderlines and legal limits. For Jordan, there is no ambiguity, any threat to our northern border or our water security is a threat to our national security. Jordan will not look away. We will protect our security, our water and the interests of our people. And the question here is, if Israel continues its antagonistic approach in southern Syria, will the international community stand by and let that happen?
Let us pass on to future generations an organisation that unites, protects and acts. For its part Madagascar is preparing at the national level a framework for the effective implementation of this transformation within our means. Indeed, the process of refoundation initiated following the mobilisation of Malagasy youth just one year ago, serves as the foundation for responsible governance, supported by strong institutions devoted to the public interest and having restored citizens trust in the state. This represents a genuine patriotic awakening, driven by the deep conviction that sustainable development requires every citizen to find a full and meaningful place within the nation. To give substance to this vision, we have launched a historic process of inclusive national dialogue, bringing together all the vital forces of the nation young people, women, persons with disabilities, political parties, civil society, the armed forces and the private sector. We have established a clear timetable. Our goal is to hold free, transparent and universally accepted elections before the end of 2027. Mr. president, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, this platform speaking here at this rostrum also gives me the opportunity to express our gratitude to all our partners for the trust and support that they have provided and for the fraternal support of the Southern African Development Community, SADC and the United Nations are going with standing with us hand in hand since the beginning of the refoundation process.
Mr. president, as a low lying atoll nation with no higher ground, sea level rise is an immediate and stark reality. This week's UN high level meeting on sea level rise has helped achieve new understanding in international law. It is the seas that are rising around us and not our islands which are sinking. Our boundaries and baselines of today. The political footprint on the map will endure in the face of aggressive sea level rise scenarios. Our collective stability and security as Pacific Islands Forum members and as a UN member state will be now better addressed. As an atoll nation, our tide gauge is proof enough that far more action is needed, and we are acting. Confronted with rising seas on our most vulnerable shorelines. We completed the Ebeye Seawall and Footpath last week. 1.8km of oceanside protection built with support from the World Bank, the Green Climate Fund and our own resources. Engineered for rising seas, it now protects 8,400 people and critical energy infrastructure, reduces annual coastal flooding losses and anchors resilient future development on Ebeye, including schools, housing and the proposed new hospital, while providing a safe public space that strengthens community wellbeing. It cost $75 million, took 70,000 tonnes of rocks, took more than a decade to do, and it is just one island of over a thousand. We are taking action and we urgently need strengthened partnership to better protect our islands before sea level rise overtakes us. Mr. president, my nation underscores the importance of the law of the sea as a key pillar of our future. Even before we were a UN member, we fought closely both to participate in UN law of the sea negotiations and to secure these rights in our Constitution. Pacific Island leadership and that of all small island developing states has defined every multilateral milestone for oceans and fisheries. And we will continue to do so. As an ocean people, the consequences of getting it wrong are not from distant impacts, but adjacent to our waters, particularly in the North Pacific, both within the International Seabed Authority and unilateral actions. Collectively, the people and voices of Micronesia must be heard. We are joined by Guam, Northern Marianas, Federated States of Micronesia and Palau in expressing our alarm at seabed mining actions where the decisions are made before impacts are well understood and where adequate safeguards remain undefined. The Marshall Islands joins 45 nations seeking a moratorium on seabed mining. Responsible and science driven regulations need to be in place. Going on guesswork for global oceans is beyond dangerous. There are no do overs. The Marshall Islands looks forward to the first Conference of Parties to the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, to work across silos to advance high seas protection. We urge wide ratification of the agreement. The Marshall Islands looks forward to supporting its secretariat in a host nation, committed to upholding the law of the sea as a matter of both principle and law, in words and in actions. Mr. president, too often the word geopolitics is considered to refer only to the whims of superpowers and not the reality of our fragile place between them.
For Namibia, effective implementation of the key commitment of the Pact for the Future would be beneficial in accomplishing Namibia's national priorities, namely agriculture, sports, youth empowerment, quality education and training, creative industry, health and social welfare, land, housing, and sanitation. I wish to urge all member states to consider the implementation of the Pact for the Future as a critical international priority for development. As part of our developmental agenda, we are preparing our young people for the emerging industries in Namibia, such as oil and gas, renewable energy, and green hydrogen, among others. Subsequently, this year we have introduced 100 percent subsidized registration and tuition fees for Namibian students entering universities and vocational training centers, and encourage them to take up appropriate courses. The government of Namibia has established the National Youth Development Fund last year. As a result of this fund, young people have set up their own medical practice, law firms, milling plants, and poultry businesses, to mention a few, thus contributing to job creation and poverty eradication. Namibia also takes cognizance of the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence in advancing human progress in line with the Global Digital Compact. However, we call for ethical, responsible, inclusive, and human-centered development and use of artificial intelligence with appropriate safeguards to ensure that technological advancement complements and enhances human capability rather than undermines it.
This strategic canal for the free world, once again, is suffering the consequences of climate change. This is something that is a real paradox because we are a carbon-negative country and one of the very few carbon-negative countries in the world, but this does not mean that we don't have to face strong droughts followed by heavy rain that causes flooding. This leads us to a reflection that is, there's a lot of support for nations that assume the objective of decarbonization, but the fact is that we don't benefit from any type of economic aid, despite the fact that we remove more carbon from the world than we produce. So it will be the Panama Canal itself that grew under Panamanian hands and that saw billions of dollars of investments to build the Rio Indio project. This is going to be a reservoir of water to ensure that the canal can continue to be used and provide more predictability to international trade and water supply to hundreds of thousands of citizens. This is an endeavor of the United Nations to support responsible projects, both socially and environmentally, that represent real progress for our countries. It's fundamental not to give in to pressure from organizations that seek extortion under the coverage of social struggles and seek cover in international organizations such as the ILO, for example. Distinguished delegates, Panama is a global leader in the conservation of biodiversity and cultural legacy as a basis for our sustainable development.
What has transpired in Gaza is genocide in every sense of the word and the stain of shame on the conscience of humanity as a whole. Future generations will be astonished by the enormous gap between the scale of the catastrophe and the level of the international response to stop it. Yet the catastrophe persists, and Israeli leaders have now begun to openly proclaim that the most appropriate solution is to displace the population, which they call migration. When the extent of global public revulsion at the practices of the Israeli occupation becomes evident, instead of looking in the mirror, they resort to hurling accusations indiscriminately in all directions, at times invoking accusations of anti-Semitism and at others resorting to conspiracy theories and accusing other powers and states of being responsible for creating their negative image. It's as though there were no means of communication, as though Israeli soldiers had not boasted, through both sound and visuals of their crimes, and as though images of the crimes against humanity committed in Gaza had not been circulated by an entire generation of young people across the world, East and west. From the very first day, the State of Qatar has done its utmost as a mediator to stem the bloodshed, to alleviate the suffering of civilians, and to release the prisoners and detainees until a cease fire was achieved. Today, we continue our efforts to consolidate it and to move towards lasting peace. As Palestinian factions agreed to arrangements for the collection of weapons as stipulated in the agreement, Israel, for its part must fully honour its commitments in their entirety: a definitive cessation of operations, withdrawal from the strip, lifting of the blockade and the unconditional delivery of humanitarian assistance. We fear that those who regard displacement as the solution will obstruct anything that could ease the lives of the population, because this would strengthen their resilience on their land. The international community bears a direct responsibility to press for implementation and to ensure that the agreement's implementation does not remain contingent upon the calculations of a party accustomed to reneging on its commitments whenever circumstances allow it to act with impunity on the ground. The continued persecution, apartheid and settler terrorism in the occupied West Bank, the desecration of Islamic and Christian holy sites, foremost among them the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, denying the Palestinian people their rights, most notably their inalienable rights to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, all this remains an open wound. Israeli aggression, marked by arrogance and hubris, has expanded to encompass neighbouring countries affected the security of the region as a whole. Israel continues its blatant attacks against Syria and is occupying more Syrian territories and adding them to the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967, without even bothering to provide any justification other than its own assessment of the nature of the political system that emerged there in Syria after the removal of the previous regime, as though it maintains tutelage over the countries of the region. It publicly declares that it is not bound by its understandings with Lebanon. It insists on continuing its occupation of Lebanese territories and seeks to assume a policing role there. Its destruction of entire villages in southern Lebanon in broad daylight is reminiscent of its history in Palestine. Dealing with Israel, putting an end to the harm it causes and restraining its unlawful conduct constitute the true test of the international community's seriousness in upholding values and the rule of law. The law must apply equally to all. When it binds the vulnerable but spares the powerful, it loses its meaning.
As President Putin said the dictatorship of one hegemon is spiraling out of control. It's dangerous for everyone else. At the start of this year in contravention of all norms, including moral norms, the US invaded Venezuela, resulting in the abduction of President Maduro and his spouse, held in an American prison without trial. And this despite the fact that international law clearly states that the highest ranking public officials of any state should enjoy immunities. We insist that the Venezuelan leader and his spouse be liberated immediately, and that such excesses do not come to be repeated. It is unacceptable the fact that force was used to kill the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, members of the military and political leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We're particularly disquieted by the fact that the U.S. and Israeli aggression, which began in June of last year, also seeks to target the civilian infrastructure in Iran and civilian nuclear infrastructure under IAEA safeguards. This dealt an irreversible blow to the authority of the agency and the entire nuclear non-proliferation system. Repeated armed confrontations in the Persian Gulf and the Strait are ongoing, despite the fact that this is dealing a blow to global navigation and trade. We need the prerequisite for the settlement of this crisis. We need trust in the relationships between the Gulf states, the Arab states and Iran. We need stable regional architecture. This is what drives our concept for collective security in the Persian Gulf. Russia, together with other responsible states, stands ready to constructively contribute to stabilizing this strategically important region. We stand convinced that it's time to resolve the main issue in the Middle East ensuring Palestinian statehood on the basis of countless UN decisions. Almost a year ago, the Security Council approved the peace plan for the Gaza Strip. But peace does not reign there. Older persons, women and children continue to perish. The humanitarian situation is critical. The situation in the West Bank continues to deteriorate, where Israel is stepping up its settlement activities. If the situation continues, it won't be possible to set up a Palestinian state. There won't be any room. But if that were to be the case, Israel's security would also be constantly under threat. Experts understand this full well. The UN and all its member states absolutely need to think outside the box so as to buck these unfavorable trends in the Middle East and nearby areas. I'm not just referring to Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, and other countries in Africa where conflicts rage. We need urgent measures to be taken to address the terrible humanitarian situation in Cuba, which is under extreme, unprecedented pressure on the part of its northern neighbor. We stand in solidarity with the Cuban people and its government. We insist that the U.S. lift its siege on the island of freedom and lift all restrictions on trade with Cuba striking it off the list of that vile list, list of state sponsors of terrorism. This is a stark example which requires the attention of the international community. But there are many other issues as well. The use of force and double standards espoused by the West are destabilizing the situation all over the map. In the Balkans, the EU is flagrantly ignoring U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, compelling Serbia to accept the fact that it has lost Kosovo, part of its history, and Belgrade is basically being forced to impose sanctions against Russia in exchange for nebulous prospects of Euro integration. There are attempts for Bosnia and Herzegovina to be unitarist the Serbs to be unionized and forced to give up their constitutional powers, which were guaranteed by the Dayton Agreement, together with the Security Council. In this spirit of running roughshod international law and security, there are reckless actions being taken in Ukraine in order to supposedly constrain Russia. The US has destroyed the European security system and created a russophobic regime in Kiev. Understanding how vain this is, Europe is doing everything it can to thwart peace talks in which the Trump administration is interested. The West is pumping the Ukrainian regime full of weapons, helping Kiev to target drones and missiles to target them at civilians and civilian infrastructure. The West aspires to inflict strategic defeat on Russia, but these aspirations will result in the warmongers being led into a strategic dead end. Colleagues. A year ago, we marked the 80th anniversary of the victory over German Nazism and Japanese militarism. Next week, on the 1st of October, we'll be marking the 80th anniversary of the completion of the work of the Nuremberg Tribunal.
They're increasingly technological. Mr. President, digital connectivity and rapid technology advancements are transforming how we live. They offer significant opportunities for big ocean sovereign states, BOSS, but they also risk creating new inequalities and dependencies. Those who benefit last from global change often bear its highest costs. We continue to live with that injustice through climate change. We cannot again be asked to adapt only after systems have been built and the rules written. For Tonga, submarine cables and satellite links are foundational infrastructures that connect our islands to global opportunities. But connectivity alone is not enough. Digital skills and secure, resilient systems must support it, and we will protect our children online and retain sovereignty over our national data. Tonga does not need to be first in artificial intelligence, quantum computing or every technology that follows. But Tonga will not simply endure global transformations. It will exercise sovereignty by helping shape the rules and norms around it. Tonga is looking beyond conventional development models. We are seeking to unlock new forms of finance through responsible valuation of our natural assets, our ocean assets, while exploring the potential of frontier technologies such as quantum science. We will form the right partnerships. We will direct innovation towards our priorities. But the Pacific's data, ocean biodiversity, critical minerals and traditional knowledge must not power the next technological revolution while returning only a fraction of their value to our people. Mr. President, from experience, Tonga knows its challenges and we will meet them with determination that has always defined our people. We also know our strengths as a BOSS. We are not asking for charity. We will do our part. We will simply ask that others do theirs. Meet the 1.5°C threshold.
A moratorium observed by responsible state will not restrain hostile powers, criminal international networks or industries of manipulation. We cannot regulate ourselves into helplessness. On this essential strategic question, the president of the United States is right. We cannot stop. We must accelerate. But acceleration must have a direction. We need artificial intelligence that is verifiable, transparent and accountable, built by free societies, shared among allies and placed in the service of citizens. The answer to weaponized automation is not technological surrender. It is democratic capacity. It is sovereign capability. It is better artificial intelligence in the hands of those who remain accountable under the law of the land. Sovereign artificial intelligence does not mean isolation. It means that no nation should be helpless before systems it cannot understand, it cannot inspect, and forget about challenging them. Every country must be able to protect its language, authenticate public communications, detect coordinated manipulation, preserve evidence, and inform its citizens without depending entirely on the commercial priorities of a very distant corporation. This is why Albania, in its own microscopic scale, compared to this gigantic challenge, is building an artificial intelligence based digital mirror. The mirror will identify manipulation in real time, will test claims against authoritative information, will reveal coordinated patterns, and help citizens understand not only what they are seeing, but also how and why it has reached them. It will not tell citizens what they must think. Truth cannot be decreed by any government. It must be evidenced, sourced, tested, challenged and defended out in the open. Our mirror is not intended to become an arbiter of opinion. It is intended to become an infrastructure of transparency. It does not seek to create a ministry of truth.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are concerned by the unjust manner and indicative of great human insensitivity in which Cuba has been treated over decades as a victim of an embargo that continues and worsens the living conditions of the Cuban people. Cuba is not a terrorist state. It neither produces nor possesses nuclear weapons, chemical or bacteriological weapons that could constitute an imminent or real threat to the national security of other countries, including the neighboring countries. On the contrary, Cuba contributed to the fall of South Africa's racist and segregationist apartheid regime a regime broadly and unanimously condemned by the international community and consequently became one of the signatories to the Quadripartite agreement of New York of 22nd December 1988. As the embargo is chiefly responsible for the calamitous situation in which Cuba and the Cuban people find themselves, and since it is inhumane, unfair and violates all the principles and norms of international law, we once again call for the end to the embargo against Cuba.
We meet at a time when the Arab Gulf is facing a security situation of a severity not witnessed in decades. The states of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan have been subjected to waves of unjustified Iranian attacks involving ballistic missiles and drones targeting civilian infrastructure, residential areas, ports, airports and energy facilities. This came in flagrant violation of international law and the charter of the United Nations. These are indiscriminate attacks without justification under any law. My country also condemns the attacks carried out by the Iran backed terrorist Houthi militia against civilian objects and Islamic holy sites in the brotherly kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We also condemn their threats to freedom of navigation in the Bab el Mandeb and the Red sea. Allow me to put the facts before you in figures. Our countries have been subjected to nearly 7000 attacks at the hands of Iran, involving 1700 ballistic missiles, 80 cruise missiles and 5220 drones. 2000 cargo vessels and tankers with 20,000 seafarers on board have also been detained, while 72 commercial vessels have been targeted, resulting in the deaths of 22 seafarers. These are not merely numbers. Behind every figure is a ship, a port, a market and families waiting for those that provide for them to return home. Commercial vessels have been targeted in the Straits of Hormuz. Mines have been laid in an international shipping lane. Restrictions on passage have been imposed in contravention of international law. The consequences of all the above extend far beyond the Arabian Gulf. It affects energy and food prices, shipping and insurance costs, as well as supply chains across the world. As the kingdom renews its full solidarity with the brotherly countries subjected to these attacks, it commends the professionalism of the Bahrain Defence Force and the Air Defence Forces of brotherly countries, and their readiness in confronting these attacks. We reaffirm the right of all states to take all lawful measures to defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity, pursuant to article 51 of the UN charter and the Joint Defense Agreement of the GCC states. All the same, we continue to exercise the utmost restraint, seeking to ensure that security and peace prevail for the benefit of the people of the region. Mr. president, the position of the Kingdom of Bahrain is grounded in international law, the rights of peoples and. The Strait of Hormuz is an international strait, and the right of transit through it is established for the vessels of all states under the UN convention on the law of the sea. That right may not be suspended or obstructed, nor may it be subjected to conditions imposed unilaterally by any state. Accordingly, the Kingdom categorically rejects any permit or fee regime imposed on the passage. It rejects the use of international waterways as instruments of pressure or economic coercion, or any attempt at the seizure of vessels. Such actions would set an extremely dangerous precedent, because what is accepted today in one strait may be demanded tomorrow in every international waterway upon which global trade depends. Alternative routes cannot be treated as a solution to conduct that violates international law. Mitigation measures are an emergency response. They should not be used as a pretext to claim that the strait is no longer necessary, or to accept a new status quo. The right of passage does not cease to exist because alternatives are available. Nor does the violation cease just because those affected have found ways to reduce the loss. This threat is not confined to the Strait of Hormuz. Security Council Resolution 2817 also referred to Bab el Mandeb, recognising that a threat to one waterway is a threat to navigation through all waterways. The security of navigation in the Red sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab el Mandeb is part of the same system. We are now not only defending a regional interest, but a rule that applies to every international waterway, and if it does apply to our strait alone, it wouldn't have been a rule. The Kingdom of Bahrain has not only stated its position in principle. On behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council states and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and by virtue of its current presidency of the GCC and its non-permanent membership of the Security Council, Bahrain led efforts resulting in the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2817, with a historic and unprecedented support of 136 countries. The resolution condemned the attacks against our countries, reaffirming their sovereignty and rejecting any action intended to close the strait or obstruct navigation through it. The Kingdom also introduced a draft resolution under chapter seven of the charter to protect commercial navigation. The resolution, adopted by the Council of the International Maritime Organization on the 19th of March, together with the Human Rights Council resolution 61/1, both have further demonstrated that the international rejection of such conduct extends beyond the Security Council. We stress the need for the full implementation of these resolutions to ensure that those responsible are held accountable, and there are compensation for the damage caused. On the 17th of this month, the Kingdom convened an Arria-formula meeting of the Security Council dedicated to freedom of navigation. In this session, we heard from 53 affected states, the maritime transport sector and relevant international bodies. And we heard a conclusion expressed by all delegations. That is, the freedom of passage through international straits is a prerequisite for global economic prosperity. The Kingdom contributes to the protection of a rules based maritime order across an area exceeding 3,000,000mi² through its hosting in Manama, of the headquarters of the Combined Maritime Forces. This comprises 47 nations. We welcome the establishment of the Multinational Maritime Defence Alliance, led by the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom is proud to participate in the alliance as a founding member in support of efforts to safeguard international trade routes and global energy supplies in accordance with international law. As efforts continue in the Security Council, this General Assembly has an equally important role to play as the forum in which all states stand equal. From this podium, we call upon Member States to support a firm collective position which upholds freedom of navigation and the right of transit passage in accordance with international law.
The way we see it, climate justice is not about pitting development and transition against one another. It's about allowing developing countries to build a growth model that's more resilient, inclusive and sustainable. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we must also prepare for the next great transformation, that of artificial intelligence AI, which could become one of the greatest accelerators of human development. AI can broaden access to knowledge, improve health systems, support agricultural workers, and make state administrations more efficient. Having said that, AI can also amplify or exacerbate existing divides. If Africa was to solely consume technologies designed and controlled outside the continent, a new form of dependence could emerge linked to data infrastructure, computing power and critical technologies. We must avoid this scenario. Therefore, Benin is in favour of international AI governance that's inclusive, responsible and development oriented. Africa should not just be a market for frontier technologies, it should also be a platform for design, innovation and production. This is the prerequisite for AI to become not a new driver of divisions, but a tool for achieving emancipation, progress and shared development. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, trust in international institutions is also linked to the trust people bestow upon their own institutions. For its part, Benin is continuing the process of consolidating our institutions and our democratic framework with full respect for our Constitution and our legal order. We deem stability, public responsibility and citizen participation, we deem them essential preconditions for sustainable development. Our experience confirms our conviction. Robust institutions are one of the pillars of peace infrastructure.
Bolivia wants to enter partnerships, to compete, to learn, and it is also open to contributing. This historic moment has seen a discussion that we can no longer postpone the transition to energy diversification. It's not so much a transition in and of itself, but rather diversifying our energy. The world needs cleaner energy sources, but it also needs minerals lithium, copper, other critical minerals. It needs new supply chains. And it needs to do that in a responsible way. And Bolivia wants to be a part of that conversation. But we would like to raise a question. Can energy, the global energy diversification, really be just if the countries that possess strategic resources continue to primarily export them as raw materials? No. That is why we want to enter into partnerships and open ourselves up to the world. But as a society, as partners, and not just as a source of raw materials. The energy transition also needs to represent productive diversification. It should create opportunities for producing countries. It should generate local capacities, respect the environment, it should incorporate and include communities, and it should allow our young people to be actors in those new industries. That is why we are proposing a new international relationship around strategic resources, a relationship that is based on investment knowledge, technology and added value. The United Nations.
Africa must be listened to more. It must be better represented and more closely involved in the decisions that shape the future of our planet. This is what must build trust between Africa and other continents, as well as with international institutions. We no longer wish to see the Human Rights Council become a forum for oppressing countries that are deliberately singled out because they defend and fight for the interests of their peoples. We want to see this council working for justice and equity for all states, without distinction. International human rights law must apply without exception to all states of the world, both in its corrective function as well as in its regulatory function. The Human Rights Council cannot be instrumentalized by other countries to the detriment of others, given that all member states of the United Nations enjoy a status of sovereign equality. Burundi wishes to reiterate, once again, its opposition to the imposition of a special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi, who was appointed without any prior dialogue or consultation. Burundi is a responsible country that respects human rights. It has fought impunity for decades. It upholds the rights and freedoms of all and ensures security as well as the guarantee that crimes it has experienced in the past will not be repeated. Mr. President, Africa intends to be a full-fledged actor and not a mere observer called upon to applaud decisions in whose preparation it played no part. Africa is not seeking any privileges. It is demanding justice, equity, and representation. We, therefore, strongly reaffirm the need for reform of the United Nations Security Council in order to allow for permanent African representation and more equitable participation by the continent in the international community's decision-making mechanisms. In this regard, Burundi believes that discussions on reform must also address the financial viability of the United Nations system by strengthening the predictability, transparency, and sustainability of its financing. It would not be coherent to entrust the organization with ever greater responsibilities without guaranteeing it the resources necessary for their implementation. We, therefore, call on member states, particularly the wealthiest, to demonstrate responsibility and solidarity in order to preserve the organization's financial stability. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, as part of this process of reform, strengthening, and consolidation of our organization, Burundi also wishes to contribute to the debate on the selection process for the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. In the current international context, marked by deep geopolitical divisions and growing challenges to multilateralism, this process must be conducted in a spirit of transparency, openness, and collective responsibility. Burundi believes that this process must be based above all on qualifications, experience, integrity, independence of judgment, diplomatic skill, and the ability to bring together the positions of all member states. We need a true bridge-builder, a leader capable of engaging in dialogue with all parties, of bringing positions closer together even when divergences appear unsurmountable, but also of showing firmness, courage, and independence when it comes to defending the principles of the United Nations Charter and ensuring that the collective interest prevails. Mr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, peace remains the primary condition for development. The African Union is deeply concerned by the persistence of conflicts and crises that continue to cause massive population displacement, destroy infrastructure, and deprive millions of children of their right to education and to a better future.
While we discuss how to modernize institutions created in 1945, we're seeing the emergence of the most powerful technology that humankind has ever known, and no one's governing it. Artificial intelligence is not only a technical matter that we can delegate to experts, it is an ethical challenge, and it's a geopolitical issue. We reject the false dilemma between innovation and responsibility. We don't believe that going quicker is always better, and neither are we going to turn our back on opportunities as a result of fear. For our country, AI can amount to and mean growth of between 10% and 20%. As such, we are choosing the path that we call one of responsible pace. That means making progress as quickly as our ability to administer progress allows. We have regulations that make things possible that do not hamper progress. We have investment in talent and in energy, and we have rigorous assessments of everything that's happening. We want to lead from a position of knowledge and not fear. And I say this in this room for one reason. The United Nations must be able to bring humankind together to discuss a technology that will decide the fate of this century. Nothing can simply be resolved by an algorithm. Mr. president, allow me to go back to the beginning. The president that I talked about, that spoke here 74 years ago, spoke on behalf of his people and discarded ideological differences.
Mr. president, as we work to correct the imbalances inherited from the last century, we must not allow them to be reproduced in the future. Artificial intelligence opens boundless horizons for growth, knowledge, innovation and improved services. Yet it may also create a vast new divide and power linked to computing capacity, data models skills and financing. Therefore managing this transformation requires the establishment of governance frameworks for artificial intelligence and emerging technologies on the basis that technology is a global public benefit and not an exclusive privilege enjoyed by a limited number of states or corporations. Egypt supports the role of the United Nations and a global dialogue to develop principles that balance innovation and responsibility, protect privacy, guarantee transparency, accountability, non-discrimination, human oversight, respect for international law, technology and knowledge transfer, financing of digital infrastructure and skills development. This would enable developing countries to become producers and developers of technology, rather than merely being markets for its consumption. Artificial intelligence should also reflect the linguistic and cultural diversity of the world Arab and African languages and communities should receive fair representation and data and models. Egypt has launched the second edition of its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025 2030, grounded in its firm conviction that the safe and responsible use of technology and the development of national capacities are inseparable requirements. The same principle governs the green transition. There can be no just transition if ambition is dissociated from fair implementation.
If vulnerability can be measured, it must be considered. Mr. President, the next great divide between nations must not be digital. Artificial intelligence offers extraordinary possibilities. Saint Kitts and Nevis intends to participate, but we must ask who will shape this new age, and who will live with decisions made elsewhere. At the end of 2025, some 2.2 billion people remain offline. But the AI divide also concerns computing power, data research, skills, energy, cybersecurity, and capital. With the global AI market projected to reach US$4.8 trillion by 2033, developing countries cannot simply consume technologies designed and governed elsewhere. We must have a place where AI's future is decided. Saint Kitts and Nevis welcomes the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance. Inclusion must lead to capability. Developing countries need affordable computing power, infrastructure, skills, and safeguards for privacy, data sovereignty, cybersecurity, and rights. Mr. President, at home, we are advancing a whole-of-government technological strategy, securing digital identity and digital public services. Regionally, the Caribbean AI Task Force supports cooperation and governance, innovation, and responsible adoption. Mr. President, artificial intelligence is already transforming the world. Saint Kitts and Nevis chooses to help shape that transformation. As SIDS, we know a simple truth: alone we are small.
Mr. President, when tragedy strikes, we must act as our brothers and sisters keepers. This too builds and restores trust among nations and strengthens the United Nations. Mr. President, friendship also is a form of trust, and I wish in this august body to recognize our country's 45 years of diplomatic ties and friendship with Taiwan that has seen us work together in development, in disaster response, education and in public health. Taiwan has shown time and again that they are prepared to be a responsible member of the international community.
Investigations and prosecutions continue to progress without political interference. Substantial progress has been made in strengthening the independence of institutions responsible for investigating and prosecuting bribery and corruption. My president, who addressed this Assembly last year, also highlighted how narcotics and related organised crime have become a menace for many countries, as well as our government's comprehensive efforts to address this menace. One year on, our United as a Nation Anti-narcotic national programme has made significant progress, including through the arrest of key figures in the narcotics supply chain.
This plan aims to separate the northern West Bank from its south, isolate East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings, and prevent the realization of a geographically continuous Palestinian state. This requires urgent and responsible intervention by the United Nations Security Council. It also requires the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2334. This resolution calls for the cessation of all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. We highly appreciate the measures taken by the United Kingdom, as well as 12 other countries, in order to protect the two state solution, as well as to ban settlement products. We also commend the call launched by the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Canada to convene a summit in New York on this matter. Furthermore, we call upon President Trump to fulfill the commitments he made to the leaders of the Arab and Islamic states last September to prevent the annexation of Palestinian land and to reject displacement.
He has exerted considerable efforts to advance the reform process and to put forward initiatives aimed at making the United Nations more effective, influential and representative. I stand today before this distinguished Assembly, under deeply regrettable circumstances, that Sudan never wished to witness within an organization founded on the principles of sovereign equality among states, respect for international law and the guarantee of equal participation for all Member states. His Excellency General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council of the Republic of Sudan, was to stand before you today to address the General Assembly on behalf of the Sudanese people and government. However, the host country prevented this by failing to issue the visa required for His Excellency to participate in this high level segment of the General Assembly. More regrettably still, this situation persisted despite the efforts undertaken by the Secretariat and despite the Secretary General's request to the host country to issue the entry visa in accordance with its obligations under the 1947 Headquarters Agreement. Accordingly, the Republic of Sudan calls upon the Secretary General, the General Assembly and the Committee on Relations with the host country to take the necessary measures to safeguard the sanctity of the Headquarters Agreement. Sudan further requests that this incident be formally documented and examined by the relevant UN mechanisms responsible for the implementation of the Headquarters Agreement. Mr. president, the need remains urgent for comprehensive, equitable and expeditious reform of the international system in light of these changes and challenges, as well as for political administration through dialogue, respect for international law and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
This stage must conclude to usher in a new political era based in truth, justice, and the ability to look forward together, and to find, in political dialogue underpinned by respect, a genuine forum within which we can settle the differences which we have as Venezuelans, seeking always, in so doing, to forge ahead for the well-being of the country. I am delighted to announce that Venezuela has begun a process of democratic transition to ensure its rebirth. This is an orderly, institutional, and verifiable process to build a country that is freer for all, more prosperous, and more at peace with itself. This is a process of political, economic, and spiritual change, and a time of structural reforms to ensure Venezuela's rebirth, the rebirth of our nation and our people. We are seeking here to build a country in which no one has to win by riding roughshod over someone else or ignoring them, because all of us, particularly young people that are entering political life for the first time, are Venezuela. We must aspire to a Venezuela whose political class is deeply committed to national interest, placing them above anything else. And this political class must not be held hostage by media algorithms. I know Venezuela intimately. I thank God for the opportunity he has provided me with to experience institutional forums which exist within various sectors of public life. I know where the doors are, doors that must open to usher in a wholesale transformation of Venezuela, and doors through which we must walk to establish new bases for an economy which serves development at a national level, and what we must do to ensure full justice for all, regardless of social or political class. And I know what we must do to develop a justice system and a system of social equality, as foreseen by the father of our liberation, Simón Bolívar, in Angostura. I want us to arise from the rubble and establish the foundations of a new, diverse, deeply spiritual nation, a new republic which is at peace from itself. However, the world is increasingly less integrated and more polarized. The world has taught us that some of the most solid democratic transitions of the modern world were not born from fracture or breakdowns, but from a transformation spearheaded with iron resolve by institutions themselves. This is our inspiration. We do not seek to reproduce a trajectory which belongs to another nation or the past, but we want to move forward on the basis of a universal idea: abiding by the law can serve as a path towards better, stronger law. A nation cannot only be reborn by rebuilding buildings; rather, it is reborn when it rebuilds trust in its institutions. Consequently, I wish to announce and reaffirm, in unambiguous terms, the pillars of this process. One, there will be an orderly legal transition and a transition of the judiciary. We have embarked upon an institutional review process to ensure the state can grow stronger and to provide legal security, which national and international investors require, but it is also required by our citizens. They must not feel trampled upon and dictated to by arbitrary powers. The judiciary must be at their service. We cannot postpone this process. There needs to be the responsible exercise of politics. Venezuela will guarantee that there can be real participation of all political forces in the country in political life. Democracy is not measured by the very existence of elections. Democracy is measured by the quality of the competition which occurs before the election. An election must serve as a solution, not a generator of irreconcilable conflicts. I wish to say the following loud and clear at this General Assembly: in Venezuela, there will be elections. And in that vein, we have begun a political dialogue with sectors of the opposition, which will lead to a process where everyone will compete on an equal footing. The Venezuelan people, with its age-old wisdom, will determine when the correct time for these elections is, and Venezuelan institutions will be prepared to guarantee this inclusive and transparent process takes place. Ours will be a country that is not submitted to economic restrictions of any kind, so that our right to development can be guaranteed.
The world must not become accustomed to the suffering. Yemen as a great country, with its strategic location, its ports, its resources, its human capital. The challenge lies in unleashing those capabilities from the grip of war and transforming these capabilities into an engine for development. Today, the heroes of the Yemeni armed forces and all military formations, legitimate military formations are on the ground confronting these Houthi terrorist militias. In defense of our people, our land, our sovereignty, and our future. Here, from this very podium, I salute them. I salute their struggle. They stand today to prevent much greater harm from reaching this world. I also address a message to our people, in particular in Sana'a and Saada and Hajjah and Hodeidah and Dhamar, in every governorate, city and village under Houthi control. We tell them from here you are our people. Your suffering is our suffering. Your rights are our responsibility. You will never be outside the national project of a Yemeni state, nor outside its future. Our struggle is not against any Yemeni citizen, nor against the sons of any region, governorate, any sect or social group. Our struggle is against an armed coup that has taken hostage the state and institutions that deepened the suffering of Yemen and Yemenis to serve Iran and its schemes. Restoring the state is not a victory for one Yemeni party over another. It is the restoration of the rights of all Yemenis to their state and institutions, the Yemen through which we struggle belongs to all Yemenis. The state we seek to restore is your state. The future of Yemen will not be built by excluding any of its sons. Our cause is not merely about how to end the war, but to build what comes after it. We seek a safe, stable, prosperous Yemen that safeguards the dignity of its citizens, rebuilds its economy, provides education for its children, jobs for its youth, security for its families. Yemen that's a partner for its neighbors, a responsible guardian of its strategic location, a bridge for trade and cooperation between the Arabian Peninsula, the Horn of Africa and the wider world. That is the Yemen that we wish for the world to see. Not a Yemen of war, but a Yemen of statehood, of humanity of opportunity, Yemen of the future. Ladies and gentlemen, the Yemeni people do not ask the world to fight their battle on their behalf. They are determined to restore their state, rebuild its institutions and confront terrorism in all its forms.
As we witness the accelerating technological revolution, we cannot accept that Africa would remain on the margins or simply become a consumer of its outputs. Here we note the need to invest in the African person to build scientific and digital capacities, so that artificial intelligence becomes a tool for development, not a new label for another development gap between the North and the South. We call for a balanced and responsible international regulation of artificial intelligence that would guarantee equitable access to its benefits, that would preserve the sovereignty of states, and that would transform this revolution into a shared opportunity, rather than an exclusive privilege or monopoly in the hands of a few. In the end, we return to the question where we began how do we restore trust? Trust is restored when words match actions, trust is restored when the law is applied equally to all, trust is restored.
And this year, again, hundreds of millions of people need humanitarian assistance, while the resources available to help them are shrinking. When funding runs out what do we tell the mother, who has walked for hours to reach a clinic with a sick child, that the doors are closed? What do we tell to a family waiting for food? That there will be no delivery tomorrow? We cannot ask humanitarian workers to give those answers, because we have chosen to cut their funding. This is not the time to treat humanitarian aid as an optional expense. It is neither a reward nor a bargaining chip. A hungry child is not responsible for the position taken by his government. That child has the right to eat, the right to receive care and the right to be protected. That is why I urge every one of us not to cut humanitarian funding. International law does more than contain violence. It is also enables trade exchange and movements. That brings me to a freedom that may at first sound rather technical: freedom of navigation.
The governance of strategic resources ought to be an issue of peace, development, and global security from now on. The energy transition, the electrification of transport, energy storage, as well as the expansion of digital and AI infrastructure are accelerating demand for copper, cobalt, lithium, nickel, and other critical minerals. As the largest global producer of cobalt and a major copper-producing power, the DRC is at the heart of this transformation. Congolese cobalt is already being used in batteries, power grids, digital equipment, and technologies that are crucial for the decarbonization of the global economy. It would be both unjust and dangerous for added value, jobs, know-how, and technologies to remain concentrated far away from the communities that are making these changes possible. We cannot build a decarbonized economy through blood-stained minerals. And we will not bring about a just transition by reproducing a greenwashed version of our past dependencies. The DRC, therefore, rejects the old model that limits producer countries to crude extraction while processing, research, technology, and the bulk of the profits are concentrated elsewhere. Our ambition is clear. We no longer wish to be simply the basement of the world's economy. We plan to become a workshop, a laboratory, and a sovereign partner. We'd like to process more cobalt and copper on our territory, develop precursors for batteries and industrial components, train our engineers, support our researchers, and include our enterprises in global value chains. We'd like to build, together with our African and international partners, competitive regional businesses that create jobs, skills, and shared prosperity. This ambition, first and foremost, entails taking up our own responsibilities. The DRC is pursuing the modernization of mining governance through the transparency of contracts, extractive revenue, and effective beneficiaries, improving mining registries, the deployment of traceability mechanisms, and the fight against fraud. We're also accelerating the formalization of small-scale mining, the regulation of traders, organization of cooperatives, and by securing exploitation zones. The battle against child labor in mines, in this regard, is a moral and national obligation. Together with the International Labor Organization, UNICEF, and our other partners, we are strengthening our identification, monitoring, and remediation mechanisms, as well as the training of our inspectors, school attendance of children, and economic solutions for their families. Our goal is unambiguous. We need to achieve zero children in the mines. This responsibility is one that lies with the Congolese state, but it also involves businesses, traders, refiners, manufacturers, financial institutions, and destination markets. The real proof of a responsible supply chain is not the electric vehicle sold downstream. It is the child who no longer descends into the mines upstream. That is why the DRC proposes creating, under UN auspices and together with the African Union, as well as producer, processor, and consumer countries, a global framework for just, traceable, and resilient critical mineral value chains. Based upon the sovereignty of producer states, it ought to guarantee traceability of minerals, responsibility of economic actors, protection of workers and communities, as well as a more equitable sharing of added value thanks to local processing and technology transfer. The corridor of Lobito ought to become one of the tools to further this ambition. We commend the commitment of Angola, Zambia, the USA, the European Union, the African Development Bank, financial institutions, and the private sector to promote its implementation.
Mr. president, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies offer extraordinary opportunities, but opportunity without inclusion can become another source of inequality. The digital divide must not become the next development divide. Developing countries must not remain passive consumers of technologies designed elsewhere. We need the capacity to participate in research, innovation, entrepreneurship, standard setting and global technology governance. Technology must serve humanity, and the governance of artificial intelligence must be inclusive, responsible and grounded in international cooperation. This is particularly important for the world's least developed countries. As The Gambia prepares to assume greater leadership within the Global Coordination Bureau of the LDC Group, we do so with a clear sense of responsibility. LDCs continue to face structural constraints, including limited productive capacity, high debt burdens, climate vulnerability, narrow export base technological gaps, and restricted access to affordable finance.
It has never brought war and it will not bring war against another country. It is determined to defend itself and to control its natural resources. It is very important for us to say this. We have chosen transformation that is based on national responsibility, making use of our resources, strengthening our institutions and tangibly improving the living conditions of our citizens. Since the 26th of July 2023, Niger has been continuing its inexorable march towards the total reconquest of its sovereignty under the leadership of the National Council for the safeguarding of the homeland, led by the president, His Excellency the General of the Army, Abdourahamane Tiani, president of the Republic Head of State. This change is a radical break with the policies imposed from outside, which were disconnected from the real needs of the population. It is rooted in the social values of the people of Niger, aware of the challenges that it faces, the government, which I coordinate, has chosen to mobilize the necessary resources to finance agriculture and basic social sectors through funds from voluntary contributions of Nigeriens themselves. In addition to revenues drawn from the exploitation of our mineral and oil resources revenue, which previously the state did not have control over. Mr. president, ladies and gentlemen a few days ago in the night, from the 28th to the 29th of August 2026, after two previous fruitless attempts to attack Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, a third attempt which General Tiani said a third attempt at destabilization, led by obscurantist and colonialist forces, targeted our institutions. As in the previous cases, it failed. It failed thanks to the loyalty of our forces, of our defence and security forces and the loyalty of our armed forces. It failed. Thanks to the solidarity of our allies and to the categorical refusal of the Nigerien people to go backwards. Niger emerges from this united and determined. Investigations are underway. The necessary investigations are underway in order to establish the circumstances, who is responsible and the internal and external support linked to this attempt.
Migration begins where there is no security, no employment, no education, no access to water, no prospects or no confidence that tomorrow will be better than today. It is not simply a matter of borders. Responsible policy must bring together security, human dignity, development and the real needs of labour markets. Climate policy, too, will have to become more grounded in reality. The green transition is essential, but if we make it socially unsustainable, we will lose the political support that is necessary to implement it.
So while others have talked, I have acted. While others have spoken of peace, I have made peace. While others have ignored threats, I have confronted them. While others have talked of courage, America has shown it. While others have promised strength, I have used it to make America the most powerful country in the world. Working with many nations in this room, we are solving decades of intractable challenges, and we are settling years of unfinished business. And we're doing it well. There is no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength at the world's peril than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran. For 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled by bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death and carnage and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond. They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more. From the first day I entered the political arena, I've been unwavering. I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Upon taking office last year, I immediately opened negotiations with Iran and offered them full economic cooperation in exchange for ending their nuclear program and support for terror. But they refused. They absolutely refused. That was a big mistake. Then in Operation Midnight Hammer, the U.S. military obliterated their nuclear program beneath mountains of rubble. And again, I urged Iran to make a deal. And again they refused. The regime continued building a vast missile and drone stockpile that threatened the security of every American service member in the region and everyone else in the region. They also made a missile that was capable of hitting Europe, and they were very proud of it. I hope the Europeans realize that Iran's goal was to complete their mad dash to a nuclear bomb from behind this conventional ballistic missile shield. If they had succeeded, that wicked regime would have been free to spread terror and death forever, knowing that any attempt to stop them would face an arsenal of nuclear annihilation. In America, we just marked the 25th anniversary of the worst terror attack in history, September 11th, which killed 3000 people just a few miles from here. It was an unbelievably terrible time. In two weeks, we will mark the third anniversary of the October 7th attack in Israel, where terrorists funded by Iran tortured, mutilated and killed 1200 very innocent civilians, including dozens of Americans and many babies, babies, little tiny, beautiful babies. Iran's supreme leader celebrated that massacre and called it a service to humanity. The same regime slaughtered over 72,000 of its citizens this year. Recently, 10,000 were killed for protesting. Just imagine such a vile regime were ever empowered to carry out large scale terror attacks from behind a nuclear shield. This was the reality we had to confront, a reality that far too many preferred to ignore. They all ignored it. Many presidents and many others just wanted to ignore it. They were unwilling to do anything about it, but they knew the problem. After giving Iran every chance for a deal, I took action to ensure that neither the United States nor any nation in this hall would ever have to face such a nightmare, such a catastrophic problem. As a result of Operation Epic Fury, all 159 ships of their navy are now lying at the bottom of the sea. Likewise, their air force is gone. Their radar is gone, their anti-aircraft equipment is gone. Their missiles and drone manufacturing capacity is almost gone. Their economy is gone. The only thing that isn't gone is inflation, which is destroying their country and is now well over 300%. Yet even after we agreed to a cease fire for nuclear discussions, Iran promptly violated it with brazen acts of terrorism against civilian ships from other countries. I want to thank the U.N. Security Council for voting overwhelmingly to pass a resolution condemning Iran's despicable terrorist attacks on commercial shipping. Thank you very much. That resolution, I'm pleased to say, received more co-sponsors from U.N. member nations than any Security Council resolution in history. That's something. Now, we must be equally united in maintaining pressure. The United States Navy has recently escorted more than 1 billion barrels of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, and more oil is flowing than at any point since the start of the war. We're taking 22, 25, 30, 32 and 37 ships out, respectively, every single day, every single night. But I have a big decision to make. 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? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we'll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn't make sense for them not to. They're waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don't realize is that I'm not running. I did that already and won in a landslide. We won in a giant landslide, and I'll be here for two and a half years. The Republican Party is running and I'll be helping them, but I am not running. I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election. When it comes to Iran, it doesn't even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. The cowards and traitors. Thank you. Thank you. The cowards and traitors would love to say the United States is low on munitions, but that's not true. We have more munitions than we could ever possibly even think of using, and we're building them at levels that we have never done before. We are adding to our stockpiles faster than we have ever been able to do before. Top of the line stuff. In addition, in the very near future, massive munition plants will be opening. There are 18 of them being built by the greatest defense companies in the world right now 18 under construction. Some of them very quickly will be completed. They're almost there. And that rapid construction will be leading to very rapid deployment of missiles of every type and ammunition of every type, and will be able to supply our allies at a much faster rate than we're doing right now. I call on all nations to join us in enforcing the complete economic isolation of Iran, until they stop their attacks on commercial shipping, relinquish their nuclear ambitions, and cease their support of terror. The terrorist regime is behaving badly, not because they are strong and confident, but because they are weak and desperate. If we stand united, we will soon see a world free of the last 51 year menace of Iranian terror. And oil prices will come plummeting down even lower than they were at the start of the conflict. And they were very low in the United States. They were really low. With courage and resolve, anything is possible. Big changes can happen and happen fast. One year ago, when I addressed the great leaders in this hall, the war in Gaza was still raging brutally. The hostages were still deep in Hamas tunnels and there was no end in sight. It was never going to be resolved. But here on the sidelines of the General Assembly, we took the first steps. That changed everything. A few weeks later, we ended the war in Gaza, saving untold thousands of lives. We also brought home all remaining hostages, both living and dead. Every single one of them. Thank you. Thank you. Everyone thought it was a miracle that we were able to do so. And people celebrated in the streets. I want to express my gratitude to the United Nations Security Council for their unanimous endorsement of our 20 point Gaza peace plan, and for officially approving the Board of Peace. Going to be a very significant group of people. Nearly 30 countries have joined the board, which I am honored to chair, and we're thankful to many of those member nations for contributing billions and billions of dollars to relief. And it goes right to the rebuilding and relief. Morocco, Bahrain, these are the countries that gave Qatar, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and many more. That money goes right to the source, right where they need it, and they desperately need it. And those countries are very have been very generous, and others also are stepping up at numbers that nobody would even believe because they want to see people live. They want to see the humanitarian thing happen properly. They've been fantastic. I also want to thank those who have committed troops police and training to help stabilize Gaza, including Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Jordan and more. Since I took office, it has been my great honor to settle eight wars and in so doing, become friendly with the leaders of many of those countries. It was a great honor to do it. Numerous of these wars have gone on for many years and even decades. The reason I was able to make these settlements was the use of my relationships. Very special relationships to this day, very, very special trade, the use of tariffs and the threat of tariffs and various other reasons depending on the country. Among them, terms of settlement, Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Armenia and Azerbaijan. And of course, the war in Gaza, which, as I stated previously, includes the return of all hostages, both living and dead. Almost every one of these countries wrote me a letter of thank you. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, terrific man, said that Donald Trump was responsible for saving 30 million lives, and probably many more than that. The president of Azerbaijan said President Trump in six months, did a miracle. It was an absolute miracle that nobody thought could be done. The Prime Minister of Armenia said this breakthrough would simply not have been possible without President Trump's personal engagement and his resolute commitment to peace. A president of Cambodia stated President Trump's extraordinary statesmanship, marked by his commitment to resolving conflicts and preventing catastrophic wars through visionary, innovative diplomacy was most recently demonstrated in his decisive role in brokering an immediate and unconditional cease fire and peace. This timely intervention which averted a potentially devastating conflict, was vital in preventing a great loss of lives and paved the way towards the restoration of peace. The president of Rwanda said when President Trump saw the opportunity to contribute to peace, he immediately took it. This conflict has lasted for 32 years. Millions and millions of people have died. We got it settled. We've seen countless mediations and efforts, but none has succeeded in resolving the underlying issues. President Donald Trump issued a new and effective statement that really has brought great peace and space through really a breakthrough that we thought was impossible. We're working very closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, and we will get that one done. It's going to happen, I think, more quickly than people understand. They've had it. 25000 young people, mostly soldiers a month, are dying 25000 a month. And I look at those battlefield pictures and I really don't want to see them anymore. It's so horrible to see 25,000 a month. Both sides. In addition, the United States and Iran will definitely get it done. We will get it done one way or the other. It's going to be done. It's going to be done fast. A lot has happened since we last gathered here one year ago. In January, at my direction, the United States military conducted a massive military operation penetrating deep into the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, descended on a heavily defended and fortified military base, one that was supposed to be flawless against attack, and arrested the outlaw dictator, real criminal Nicolás Maduro.
