🇺🇳 Leaders talk... and talk

Good morning from New York!

Colombian President Gustavo Petro was made to wait a full three minutes at the podium before starting his UNGA speech yesterday because diplomats in the UN Assembly Hall were standing around loudly chatting and laughing.

UNGA President Dennis Francis could be heard muttering “extraordinary!” several times while banging his gavel. Every part of me was waiting for him to channel his inner school teacher and bellow, “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s your own time you’re wasting”.

There’s plenty to unpack from the first day of leaders’ speeches yesterday, so let’s dive straight in.

News

Azerbaijan launches military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh. The escalation drew immediate condemnation from many countries. Argentinian president Alberto Fernández addressed the conflict during his UNGA speech: “While this assembly is being held, Azerbaijan has started military operations with the goal of taking control of Nagorno-Karabakh. The international community cannot remain indifferent to this reality. It must react preventively to avoid new ethnic, racial, religious or political persecution.” (DW)

A very bold strategy. US and Saudi officials are reportedly negotiating a ‘mutual defence pact’ not unlike the US-Japan security agreement. The Saudis will continue normalising relations with Israel as part of the deal. I suspect the US’s motivation is to thwart China’s influence in the region, but Biden might have a hard time getting this through Congress. (New York Times $)

A UN intervention in Haiti? President Biden said he would put forward a UNSC resolution to authorise Kenya to lead a multinational police force to help combat gang violence plaguing Haiti. No one I talked to yesterday knew whether the resolution would pass, but it has the support of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. (AP)

Netanyahu and Erdoğan broke bread yesterday evening. It was the first meeting between the Turkish leader and any Israeli leader since 2008. On the agenda was Israeli-Palestinian relations and Saudi normalisation. Amazingly, for two men who have been in power for so long (or in and out of power in Bibi’s case), it is the first time they’ve met each other. (Times of Israel)

Mixed messages on Sweden’s NATO bid? NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted yesterday that President Erdoğan reaffirmed that the Turkish parliament will take up Sweden’s NATO membership as soon as possible. That came a day after Erdoğan told journalists, “My parliament doesn’t view this issue positively; they aren’t ready to ratify Sweden’s accession protocol.” Clear as mud. (@jensstoltenberg)

Evan Gershkovich’s appeal withdrawn. On Tuesday morning, a Moscow court declined to consider jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s latest appeal due to procedural irregularities. We attended an event yesterday about Evan’s continuing imprisonment (scroll down for more). (Wall Street Journal)

What leaders said about…

Climate change

🇧🇷 Brazil’s Lula pointed out a fundamental tension. “Acting against climate change involves thinking about tomorrow and facing historical inequalities. Rich countries grew based on a model with high rates of climate-damaging gas emissions. It is the vulnerable populations in the global South who are most affected by the loss and damage caused by climate change.”

🇿🇦 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa echoed Lula’s point. “Of the 20 climate hotspots in the world, 17 are in Africa. Africa is least responsible for the climate damage that has been caused, and yet it bears the greatest burden. The people of our continent are once again bearing the cost of industrialisation of the north.”

🇨🇴 Colombian President Gustavo Petro delivered a bleak (but poetic) oration. “It has been a year in which humanity lost and without hesitation has advanced the times of extinction. It would seem as though the global leadership has made enemies with life. [Mankind has] dedicated itself to war and distracted ourselves from development goals and climate change, which is the mother of all crises.”

🇺🇸 US President Biden played to his audience. “We need more investment [to combat climate change] from the public and private sector alike, especially in places that have contributed so little to global emissions but face some of the worst effects of climate change like the Pacific Islands.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

🇵🇱 Polish President Andrzej Duda strongly backed Ukraine and the US. “This brutal, brutal war must end and not be converted into a frozen war. This can only be done by restoring the full territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.” He added: “It is the United States that has been playing a pivotal role in ensuring security in Europe for more than a century.”

🇹🇷 Turkish President Erdoğan focused on the Black Sea Grain Deal. “The Black Sea initiative prevented a global food crisis. It was extended three times, but unfortunately, the initiative has remained gridlocked since 17 July. We continue to make negotiation efforts to ensure it is extended even further.”

🇧🇷 Brazilian President Lula pushed both sides to begin negotiations. “We do not underestimate the difficulties of achieving peace, but no solution will be lasting if it is not based on dialogue. I have reiterated that work needs to be done to create space for negotiations.”

🇺🇦 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky argued that Russia was a threat to all countries. “The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into a weapon against you, against the rules-based international order. If it weren’t for Russia, chemical weapons would’ve never been used in Syria. And Russia is weaponising nuclear energy (by turning nuclear plants into dirty bombs).”

🇺🇸 US President Joe Biden supported Zelensky’s argument. “Russia believes the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalise Ukraine without consequence. But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the UN Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state feel confident they are protected?… Putin could end the war with a word.”

Global development and UN reform

🇳🇬 Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu set the tone. “Broken promises of fair treatment and outright exploitation from abroad have also exacted a heavy toll on our ability to progress. Africa is not a problem to be avoided. Nor is it to be pitied. Africa is nothing less than the key to the world’s future.”

🇿🇦 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa questioned the globe’s spending priorities. “It is a grave indictment of this international community that we can spend so much money on war - and in fact, trillions are being spent on war - but we cannot support action that needs to be taken to meet the basic needs of billions of people in the world.”

🇸🇮 Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar wants to scrap the UNSC veto. “Slovenia belongs to the majority of member states that are deeply concerned about the unlimited use of the veto power, which is causing us to lose faith in the Security Council.”

🇹🇷 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed. “We must immediately reform institutions under the UN, which is responsible for ensuring world peace, security and welfare. The Security Council has ceased to be the guarantor of world security and has become the battleground for the political strategies of only five countries. The world is bigger than five.”

Other notable remarks

🇨🇴 Colombian President Gustavo Petro asked an uncomfortable question. “What is the difference between Ukraine and Palestine? I ask: is it not time to bring an end to both wars – and other wars too – and make the most of the short time we have to build paths to save life on the planet?”

🇨🇺 Cuba’s president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, criticised the US. “For 60 years now, Cuba is suffering from an asphyxiating economic blockade designed to depress its income and living standards, to promote a continuing scarcity of food, medicine and other basic imports and to damage its development potential”.

🇯🇴 The King of Jordan, Abdullah II, asked why there’s no attention on refugee issues. “Is this what we’ve come to? Is the international community going to watch as refugee families find themselves forced to send their children to work instead of schools?”

🇬🇹 With four months left in office, Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei went out with a bang. “How can it be that in the midst of the 21st century, this organisation keeps a country like Taiwan outside its doors? That country is one that contributes to science, high technology, healthcare, development and many other fields.”

Freedom of the press event at the Clinton Global Initiative

We attended an event yesterday hosted by Hillary Clinton and featuring Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and Publisher of the WSJ, to discuss the state of freedom of the press worldwide.

The timing was particularly difficult for Latour. As we spoke with him, he answered a call to get the news that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s appeal against his pre-trial detention had been withdrawn. Also on the panel was Jason Rezaian of The Washington Post, who was detained in Iran for 544 days between 2014-2016.

Secretary Hillary Clinton closed the session by noting that while so much of this conversation is focused on the imprisonment of American journalists in autocratic regimes, many journalists are also being detained or killed by non-state actors in Latin America.

To read more, check out this interactive map detailing each of the 363 journalists currently imprisoned around the world. (Committee to Protect Journalists)

Today’s intriguing events

• Leaders’ speeches continue today. Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso will make remarks only a month before the country’s presidential election. President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea will likely draw attention to fears of Russia and North Korea getting closer. In the afternoon, we’ll hear from fan favourite Gabriel Boric of Chile, and the final speech of the day will come from President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan.

• Food+ Forum @ UNGA 78: Foreign Policy is hosting a forum tackling water insecurity and food scarcity at a time when food systems are increasingly challenged by conflict and climate.

• The New Generation “That’s Getting it Done”: An event highlighting upcoming trailblazers and a chance for attendees to step away from podium speeches and engage in more creative, dynamic examples of change.

• Scaling Up Project Preparation for Private Capital Mobilization: A joint initiative between Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF) and J.P. Morgan to address hindrances to driving climate action through private capital mobilisation.

Quote of the day

Word search: Former Secretaries-General of the UN

See you tomorrow!

Corrections: (1) Yesterday, I incorrectly noted that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban would address the UNGA today. Hungarian President Katalin Novák actually delivered the speech. (2) I also referred to King Charles II when I meant King Charles III. The former died in 1685.

Solutions: Guterres, Ban, Annan, Boutros-Ghali, Perez de Cuellar, Waldheim, Thant, Hammarskjöld, Lie