In a fiery speech on Saturday, the fifth day of the United Nations General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States and the West of continuing to “foment conflicts” that “divide humanity” while remaining conspicuously silent on the war of the country in Ukraine meeting in New York City.
Russia
“The United States and its subordinate Western collective continue to foment conflicts that artificially divide humanity into hostile blocs and hinder the achievement of general goals,” Lavrov said. “They are doing everything to prevent the emergence of a true multipolar world order.
“They are trying to force the world to play by their own self-centered rules.”
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York City on Saturday. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Turning to the 19-month war in Ukraine, he recapitulated some historical grievances dating back to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and pointed to the billions of dollars the U.S. and Western allies have spent supporting Ukraine. But he did not elaborate on the current struggles.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the UN General Assembly and criticized Russia for weaponizing everything from food supplies to nuclear energy in a desperate bid to conquer his country.
“When hatred is used as a weapon against a nation, it never stops,” Zelensky said. “The goal of the current war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into weapons against you – against the international rules-based order.”
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Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud was less heated. He called for an end to the war in Ukraine, an independent state for Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, and said resolving the crisis in Syria would lead to stability in the region and the world.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly that Israel was “on the threshold” of a breakthrough on a peace deal with Saudi Arabia.
Netanyahu’s comments came in response to Fox News editor-in-chief, “Special Report” anchor and editor-in-chief Bret Baier’s interview with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) this week about ongoing talks between the kingdom and Israel.
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Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City on Saturday. (LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images)
“Every day we get closer it seems real for the first time. We can see what happens next,” the prince said, adding that an agreement would be based on the treatment of Palestinians, including the creation of a Palestinian state.
In his speech on Saturday, Al-Saud also noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended an Arab summit in Jeddah earlier this year.
He added that Saudi Arabia was “deeply concerned” about the war in Sudan, which the United Nations said had killed at least 5,000 people. Saudi Arabia is helping to get citizens out of the country and continues to donate money to the Sudanese people.
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Afghanistan should not be a haven for terrorists, Al-Saud said, adding that Saudi Arabia has made “great progress” against terrorism and extremism.
“The world must show fearlessness and determination in the fight against extremism,” he said.
Saudi Arabia wants to cooperate with OPEC and maintain the stability of the global crude oil market, he added.
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Belize
Eamon Courtenay, Belize’s minister of foreign affairs, foreign trade and immigration, said in his speech that “trust and solidarity” are waning around the world and accused the United States of treating migrants inhumanely as its southern border. He also accused the US of “illegal” blockade of Cuba as “evil.”
“We condemn it and demand its immediate repeal,” he said, adding: “American policy has no other goal than to punish ordinary Cubans.”
He also claimed that there is ongoing suffering in developing countries because vaccine manufacturers refuse to give up their intellectual property rights to allow other countries to produce vaccines.
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Belize’s Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay speaks at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
To restore trust and solidarity, Courtenay said international financial institutions needed to be reformed and that greater non-Western representation was needed on the UN Security Council. The council’s five permanent members include the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia.
Courtenay called for reparations from countries involved in the historic slave trade, saying people in counties that were victims of slavery continued to live in poverty.
The minister also accused Israel of apartheid with the Palestinians and called for Taiwan to be admitted to the UN.
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He called Russia’s war in Ukraine “devastating” and condemned Moscow for trying to redefine international borders by force, pointing out that “the price is too high, it’s time for peace.”
This is the evolution of reporting on the UNGA.
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Peter Aitken and Louis Casiano of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.