NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 21: Law enforcement secures an entrance to the United Nations (UN) during the start of the General Assembly on September 21, 2026, in New York City.
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World leaders descended on New York this week for the annual United Nations General Assembly, where the agenda spans the U.S.-Iran war and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the fragile ceasefire in Gaza and the risks posed by artificial intelligence.
Nearly 130 heads of state and government started taking the podium on Tuesday, including U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani are also attending.
Motorcades, road closures and security details for visiting leaders have choked midtown Manhattan. Inside UN headquarters, delegates face a week of back-to-back speeches and sideline meetings that come at a crucial time for a world order already under strain.
New York Police Department (NYPD) officers monitor a barricaded street near the United Nations (UN) headquarters ahead of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, US, on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.
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Chinese leader Xi Jinping will skip the assembly but head to Washington for a high-level summit with Trump on Wednesday. Leaders from India and Russia are also staying away.
Trump on Tuesday told world leaders at the assembly that he faces a “big decision”: make a deal with Iran or “annihilate” the Islamic Republic. He later told reporters that U.S. officials held a “very good” three-hour meeting with Iranian envoys on the sidelines, reviving fragile hopes for a diplomatic off-ramp to the seven-month war.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 22: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters on September 22, 2026 in New York City.
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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung set out a three-part plan for “peaceful coexistence” with North Korea. It calls on Pyongyang to “first halt the advancement” of its nuclear program before reducing it.
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 22: President of South Korea Lee Jae Myung addresses the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, which brings together leaders and senior representatives of UN member states in New York, United States, on September 22, 2026.
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Brazil’s Lula spoke first, as his country traditionally does. “Brazilian democracy belongs to Brazilians,” Lula said. “Brazil is nobody’s backyard.” He said the UN “is failing in one of its highest missions: to save humanity from the scourge of war.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 22: President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters on September 22, 2026 in New York City.
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Trump also signed a security agreement with Denmark and Greenland that expands U.S. military access in the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 22: (L-R) U.S. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen and Prime Minister of Greenland Jens-Frederik Nielsen hold up the proclamations during the signing of a security pact between the U.S., Denmark, and Greenland during the 81st session of the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters on September 22, 2026 in New York City.
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Trump then met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for about 40 minutes. He pressed for a Russia-Ukraine energy truce and backed a ban on U.S. diesel exports as fuel prices hit records before the midterms.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 22: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands as they hold a bilateral meeting in conjunction with the 81st session of the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters on September 22, 2026 in New York City.
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French President Emmanuel Macron gave his own UN address. “There can be no peace without justice,” he said. After meeting Trump, he pledged to push for a moratorium on strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron meets with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 21, 2026.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Gaza “the most inhumane, most shameful concentration camp of our time,” prompting Israel’s delegation to walk out. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, will address the assembly by video after being denied a U.S. visa.
NEW YORK, USA – SEPTEMBER 22: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and First Lady Emine Erdogan walk from the Turkish House (Turkevi) to the United Nations Headquarters to attend the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, USA, on September 22, 2026.
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