The second day of the 80th United Nations General Assembly’s General Debate featured addresses from over a dozen world leaders, focusing on regional stability, global conflicts, and multilateral cooperation under the theme “Better Together: 80 Years and More for Peace, Development, and Human Rights.” Key speeches highlighted calls for sanctions relief, enhanced defense pacts, and urgent action against aggression, amid parallel events like the Biennial Summit on Financing Development.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian welcomed the recent Saudi Arabia-Pakistan mutual defense pact as a “beginning for a comprehensive regional security system” involving Muslim states in West Asia, emphasizing political and defense cooperation to foster peace. He vowed Iran would “never seek to build a nuclear bomb,” while accusing Israel of sovereignty violations in Iran, Syria, Yemen, and Qatar, and criticizing Western powers for acting at the behest of the United States.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned the assembly that the world faces “the most destructive arms race in human history,” driven by Russia’s aggression, and declared “Ukraine is only the first” target as Putin seeks to expand the war “wider and deeper” across Europe. He stressed, “We must use everything we have together to force Russia to stop,” offering to share Ukraine’s defense strategies and calling for immediate action.
Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa made history as the first Syrian head of state to address the UNGA in nearly 60 years, since Nureddin al-Atassi in 1966, urging the “complete lifting of all sanctions” to aid reconstruction and promising accountability for past bloodshed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the Pakistan-India standoff, urging dialogue and de-escalation, while noting U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire. Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated, “There is no superior race. There is no ‘chosen people of God.’ It is neither the United States nor Israel. The ‘chosen people of God’ is all of humanity,” advocating for a new UN approach. On the sidelines, French President Emmanuel Macron met al-Sharaa, and the Biennial Summit addressed SDGs financing.
