Brazilian president says UN failing to end "scourge of war"

The United Nations is failing to rid humanity of the scourge of war, while its credibility has reached its lowest point, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said as he addressed the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

“We are all held hostage by the inaction of the Security Council failing to fulfil its role,” Lula said, arguing that a fundamental flaw in the UN Charter has allowed major powers to remain unaccountable.

Lula stressed that 2025 saw the highest number of armed conflicts since the Second World War, while trillions of dollars are being spent on a new global arms race.

Against this backdrop, he called on the leaders of the UN Security Council’s member states to meet and address the growing challenges facing the international system.

The Brazilian president also said generations of Palestinians would continue to bear the pain and trauma resulting from what he described as the genocide of women and children perpetrated by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza.

By Vafa Guliyeva