Guterres calls for urgent Security Council reform amid global crises
The UN secretary-general says divisions among major powers and violations of international law are paralysing the Security Council.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for urgent reform of the Security Council, saying geopolitical divisions among major powers are preventing effective action on global crises.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Guterres said countries that violate international law also sit on the Council, contributing to what he described as its “paralysis”. He said reform should include a redistribution of power because current power relations no longer reflect global realities.
Guterres also called for an immediate end to what he described as Israeli ethnic cleansing in the occupied Palestinian territory. He said peace in the Middle East depended on resolving the Palestinian-Israeli crisis and required a two-state solution, while accusing Israel of gradual annexation in the West Bank and citing violations by settlers supported by Israeli security forces.
On Ukraine, Guterres said he would be willing to facilitate trilateral peace talks at the UN General Assembly if key parties agreed. He urged an immediate ceasefire and said conditions were needed for a just peace, but no talks or ceasefire were reported as agreed.
Guterres further called for a global and coordinated response to the risks of runaway artificial intelligence. He said international cooperation was increasingly necessary as the world faced threats including artificial intelligence, the climate crisis and deepening inequality, according to Al Jazeera Global News.
