The annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly takes place at a polarizing and divisive juncture in history - the most fraught and dangerous since the Cold War, according to many analysts and diplomats.
“We find ourselves at a critical juncture in human history,” former Liberian president and Nobel peace laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said last week. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters last week that he didn’t think a leader’s presence “is more relevant or less relevant.” What counts, he said, is whether their government is prepared to make commitments on the U.N. goals and many other issues during the week. “So this is not a vanity fair,” he said.
Zelenskyy also addresses the assembly Tuesday and will attend a Security Council meeting Wednesday on Ukraine focusing on the principles of the U.N. Charter, which require every country to respect others’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. The meeting could create the unique spectacle of placing Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the same room.