World leaders are gathering at the United Nations headquarters in New York this week "in an era of deep uncertainty," says U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
This is Guterres' final General Assembly high-level week, as his term ends at the end of the year.
He'll give opening remarks to start the event Tuesday morning, followed by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — as Brazil speaks first by tradition — and then President Trump. The packed schedule of other leaders and top officials runs through Sept. 28.
Guterres told reporters last week that he will use his meetings with world leaders to push for de-escalation in the Middle East and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb waterway. He's also pushing for a ceasefire in Ukraine, well into the fifth year of Russia's full-scale invasion.
U.N. watchers, however, are not expecting major breakthroughs on these topics. Here's what we will be watching.
Iran
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is expected to address the world body on Wednesday, a day after President Trump's speech — and nearly seven months after the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran in late February. The U.S. State Department says the Iranian delegation will be smaller than last year. The U.S. did not give everyone visas. Iranian officials will have strict limits on where they can go and what they can buy, enforced by diplomatic security agents. It is not clear if any will meet with Trump administration officials. The U.N. secretary-general has been trying to negotiate an opening of the Strait of Hormuz for fertilizer, though those efforts have not gained traction.
Ukraine and Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on the speakers list for Wednesday, too, and his European allies are trying to rally support as the country heads into another winter of war. Russia uses its veto power on the U.N. Security Council to block any meaningful role for the U.N.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has not attended the General Assembly for over a decade. Instead, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to give an address on Sept. 26 — and meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the event earlier in the week.
Israel and the Palestinians
For a second year in a row, the Trump administration denied a visa for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation. The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to criticize that move and to allow Abbas, again, to deliver his statement via video. His prerecorded speech is scheduled to be delivered Thursday morning.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in the midst of an election campaign, will take advantage of his 15 minutes on the world stage — later Thursday — to defend his record on Iran and Gaza. Israel's Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said Netanyahu will "proudly address the General Assembly," despite planned protests. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he has no plans to attend those protests, though he had earlier suggested that Netanyahu should be arrested for an International Criminal Court warrant. The Trump administration dismissed that and is promising to continue its campaign to undermine the court in the Hague.
Split-screen diplomacy
About 120 leaders and senior representatives are gathering at the United Nations this week, but there will be some key players missing. The leaders of India, Germany and South Africa are expected to skip and send other senior representatives in their place. China's Xi Jinping, who only attended in 2015 and spoke via video during the COVID pandemic-era UNGA in 2020, will do the same, even though he's expected at the White House on Thursday.
"There's going to be a bit of a split-screen moment," says Richard Gowan, director for global issues and institutions at the International Crisis Group, a think tank focused on conflict prevention. "You're going to have the leaders of China in the U.S. meeting in Washington and then, on the other hand, you're going to have leaders of smaller countries continuing to give speeches in a pretty empty General Assembly hall. And I think that in itself could actually send a bit of a message about where power really lies," Gowan told NPR.
Venezuela
Just 8 1/2 months since the U.S. military swept into Caracas to oust and arrest Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, his then vice president and now interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, will make her U.N. debut Thursday afternoon. As Rodríguez addresses the U.N., Maduro remains in U.S. custody, just a few miles from U.N. headquarters. President Trump plans to meet with Rodríguez on the sidelines of the General Assembly on Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz told reporters. Rodríguez recently announced a major oil deal with the Trump administration, giving the Pentagon a stake in Venezuelan oil fields. Secretary of State Rubio called it a unique opportunity that will benefit the U.S. and "produce royalties and revenue that will ultimately go into the hands of Venezuelan authorities, but a democratically elected Venezuela in the future." President Trump has said Venezuela is not ready for elections.
Race for U.N. secretary-general
The U.N. Security Council has held three straw polls on the candidates in the running to replace Secretary-General Guterres. So far, there has been no consensus, though Costa Rica's former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan and Guyana's former Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett are among the front-runners. By tradition, the next secretary-general is expected to come from Latin America. There has never been a woman at the helm, so many delegations are encouraging that. Over the weekend, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet dropped out of the race, leaving seven remaining candidates.
The U.S. State Department will only say that the next secretary-general "must get the U.N. back to basics and publicly commit to the changes we require." As a veto holder, the U.S. can block candidates. It could take time for the divided Security Council to agree on a candidate that would be sent for a vote in the General Assembly. The deadline is the end of the year, which is the end of Guterres' term, and more candidates could still enter the race.
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