NEW YORK, September 24 — The high-level general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly is under way in New York, with nearly 130 heads of state and government expected to take the podium during the annual gathering. The session’s high-level segment runs from 21 to 25 September 2026, according to the European Council’s published schedule, and the debate opened on Tuesday, 22 September.
The fact that has defined this year’s Assembly is a joint statement in which fifty countries, together with the European Union, called on Russia to cease fire. The United States did not support it.
That split — fifty countries plus the EU on one side, Washington abstaining on the other — is the diplomatic fault line running through the week, and it is the reason the statement carries weight as a measure of where the international community stands on Russia’s war.
A forum where nearly everyone is in the room
The UN General Assembly’s annual high-level general debate is the one forum where nearly all UN member states’ leaders gather in the same room in the same week. That is what gives a statement of this kind its value as a barometer. It is also why the absence of US backing lands as hard as it does.
The Assembly convenes amid widening global fault lines. The UN Secretary-General used the opening of the high-level debate to urge that the power of law must prevail over the law of power.
Two wars, and a packed American week
Two conflicts dominate the agenda. The war with Iran is nearing its eighth month, with reported impacts on global oil prices and on stability in the Middle East. President Donald Trump is set to travel to New York City to address global leaders and is expected to hold a busy week of meetings around the Assembly; Reuters reported on his schedule of meetings during the week.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also addressed the 2026 General Assembly. His remarks were carried by PBS and covered by UN Media under the title “President of Ukraine Addresses 81st Session of General Assembly Debate.” Beyond war, the Assembly is confronting familiar crises, new conflicts and artificial intelligence, according to The New York Times’ preview of the session.
Al Jazeera’s guide sets out when the Assembly is taking place and who is speaking and when, while CNBC published a photo roundup of key takeaways from day one. What to watch next: the remaining speakers on the roster through the close of the high-level segment on 25 September, and whether the gap between the fifty countries and the EU on one side and the United States on the other widens or narrows as the week’s meetings play out.
