UN Chief's Last Annual Speech Warns Global Cooperation 'On Deathwatch'
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will step down as head of the UN in 2026, and on Thursday he issued a stark warning to world leaders upon the occasion of this last annual priorities speech.
He said that international cooperation is being pushed "onto deathwatch" by widening geopolitical rifts and increased and unpredictable violations of international law and sharp cuts to humanitarian aid. While not naming names, the United States under President Trump was probably high on the UN official's mind, and certainly the audience was thinking it in the wake of the Venezuela operation as well as threatened US strikes on Iran.
"At a time when we need international cooperation the most, we seem to be the least inclined to use it and invest in it," he said, decrying some governments are actively working to weaken the system, increasingly creating "self-defeating geopolitical divides".
"The context is chaos," Guterres told delegates. "We are a world brimming with conflict, impunity, inequality and unpredictability."
Another big and dramatic line, as he discussed hot conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza to Yemen to Sudan - came in the following:
"That is the paradox of our era: at a time when we need international cooperation the most, we seem to be the least inclined to use it and invest in it," he said, adding: "Some seek to put international cooperation on deathwatch. I can assure you: we will not give up."
"Peace is more than the absence of war," he additionally said, blaming that poverty, lack of development, inequality and weak institutions end up creating conditions for further violence. "Sustainable peace requires sustainable development."
"As we meet today, millions are trapped in cycles of violence, hunger and displacement," he additionally described, calling on more robust global action.
Meanwhile over in Moscow, President Putin expressed agreement, the same day in a speech not related to the United Nations describing that the global situation is on the brink:
“The situation on the international stage is increasingly deteriorating - I don’t think anyone would argue with that - long-standing conflicts are intensifying, and new serious flashpoints are emerging,” Putin said with a smile.
In a speech to new ambassadors who had presented their credentials in the Kremlin, his first public remarks on foreign policy issues this year, Putin did not mention the United States or Trump explicitly.
“We hear a monologue from those who, by the right of might, consider it permissible to dictate their will, lecture others, and issue orders,” Putin said. “Russia is sincerely committed to the ideals of a multipolar world.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered a stark warning about the state of global security, saying the world is becoming more unstable as old conflicts flare up and new flashpoints emerge. https://t.co/R0yHuPdpQf
— Rajeev Ahmed (@twittingrajeev) January 15, 2026
"We hope that recognition of this need will come sooner or later. Until then, Russia will continue to consistently pursue its goals," Putin stated.
More junior Russian officials have over the past days pointed out that it's absurdly hypocritical for the West to lecture Moscow, when Washington is going unprovoked into countries like Venezuela to remove leaders - and threatening new war against Iran.
