Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva delivered one of the sharpest rebukes of the day at the UN General Assembly, declaring that the institution is failing at its most basic task — preventing war — and that its credibility has hit rock bottom.
“We are all held hostage by the inaction of the Security Council failing to fulfil its role,” Lula said, arguing the UN Charter itself hands great powers the luxury of looking away. He noted that 2025 saw more armed conflicts than any year since World War II, even as trillions of dollars pour into a fresh global arms race, and called for Security Council leaders to convene directly.
Turning to the Middle East, Lula said Palestinians would carry the trauma of what he described as the Netanyahu government’s assault on women and children in Gaza for generations to come. “Threatening civilizations with extinction will not bring stability to the Middle East,” he said, adding that neither the Strait of Hormuz standoff nor the five-year Russia-Ukraine war would end on the battlefield. “Diplomacy is the only option.”
Lula also pushed back on great-power influence in Latin America, declaring “Brazil does not fit in anyone’s backyard,” while touting a steep drop in Amazon deforestation, now at an 11-year low.