UN General Assembly Opens With 130 Leaders as AI and Trump Diplomacy Dominate
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 21
UN General Assembly Opens With 130 Leaders as AI and Trump Diplomacy Dominate
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 21
Summary
More than 130 heads of state or government are expected in New York as the UN General Assembly’s General Debate begins Tuesday, with António Guterres entering his final high-level week before leaving office at year-end.
Artificial intelligence has emerged as a central theme alongside the assembly’s official focus on restoring trust, with Guterres devoting much of his final pre-UNGA press conference to AI and the Security Council set to discuss it Wednesday.
Trump’s bilateral agenda is set to shape the week: he is due to meet Gulf leaders on Iran, hold talks with Volodymyr Zelensky, and sign a Greenland security agreement negotiated with Denmark and Greenland.
The speaker lineup also reflects geopolitical strain, with Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas both slated for Thursday, Abbas expected to appear by video after another US visa refusal, and Iran’s core delegation still allowed to attend under restrictions.
The gathering opens as the UN’s finances stabilize somewhat after a crisis year—helped by an $827 million US payment—even as delegates weigh Guterres’ successor and renewed questions over the organization’s relevance.