Guterres opens UN General Assembly urging de-escalation and warning against military supremacy

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the 81st General Assembly in New York by urging leaders to de-escalate and warning that military force alone cannot secure peace.

• Guterres said the world is moving toward a multipolar world, where competition could enhance stability and cooperation rather than confrontation.
• He called on world leaders to de-escalate and guarantee freedom of global navigation.
• Guterres said military force alone cannot secure peace, nor can economic power alone secure stability.
• He urged reform of the Security Council and said Africa's lack of a permanent seat is unjust.
• Guterres described the Middle East ceasefire as merely reduced-intensity gunfire.
• He said the two-state solution must not be allowed to fade and warned settlement expansion in the West Bank risks ethnic cleansing.
• He described Sudan's war as a power struggle fueled by external parties that has become a war against civilians.