UN General Assembly convenes amid conflicts, AI concerns and funding strain

New York, United States. World leaders are gathering this week for the UN General Assembly, with discussions expected to focus on widening conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as the risks posed by artificial intelligence.

President Donald Trump is set to return to the General Assembly rostrum for a second consecutive year, as the post-World War Two order faces strain and the United Nations seeks to maintain its relevance.

Conflicts and Security Council meetings

Nearly 130 heads of state are due to attend the assembly. The 15-member UN Security Council may hold high-level meetings on Ukraine, artificial intelligence and the Middle East, including talks with Arab leaders, diplomats said.

US funding and UN pressure

The United Nations is facing financial and morale pressures following attacks from Trump, who has cut US contributions and withdrawn from dozens of UN bodies.

The United States avoided losing its General Assembly vote this week after paying $725 million in contributions to the regular budget. However, it still owes the organisation more than $1 billion and continues to demand cuts and reforms.

More than a year into Trump’s second term, Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group said the UN remained in an open-ended crisis.

“The UN may not be in emergency care like it was last year, but it seems to be trapped in a trauma center for the foreseeable future,” Gowan said.

China and future UN leadership

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who last addressed the annual gathering by video in 2021, will not attend the New York meeting. He is instead scheduled to hold one-on-one talks with Trump in Washington on Thursday.

His absence has added to debate over the UN’s relevance in responding to global crises.

Questions also remain over the organisation’s next leader. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will complete his term at the end of 2026, with no clear frontrunner to replace him.

Artificial intelligence concerns

The assembly follows calls by several artificial intelligence industry leaders for a coordinated slowdown in the technology’s development, warning that it could soon improve itself and escape human control.

Guterres said artificial intelligence would be a major topic at the gathering. He said countries advancing the technology should establish “common guardrails in order to avoid this race to the bottom that could lead one day to a gigantic disaster at the global level.”