annual

Antonio Guterres appears to take aim at the US, which recently slashed its contribution, telling the UN to ‘adapt or die’.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has lashed out at world leaders he accused of turning their backs on international cooperation amid “self-defeating geopolitical divides” and “brazen violations of international law”.

Addressing the UN General Assembly on Thursday, the UN secretary-general slammed “wholesale cuts in development and humanitarian aid”, warning that they were “shaking the foundations of global cooperation and testing the resilience of multilateralism itself”.

“At a time when we need international cooperation the most, we seem to be the least inclined to use it and invest in it. Some seek to put international cooperation on deathwatch,” he said.

Last annual speech

The secretary-general, who will step down at the end of 2026, held off naming offending countries, but appeared to refer to deep cuts to the budgets of UN agencies made by the United States under the “America First” policies of US President Donald Trump.

While other countries have also cut funding, the US announced at the end of last year that it would be allocating only $2bn to United Nations humanitarian assistance, representing a small fraction of the leading funder’s previous contributions of up to $17bn.

Trump’s administration has effectively dismantled its primary platform for foreign aid, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), calling on UN agencies to “adapt, shrink or die”.

Setting out his last annual list of priorities as secretary-general for the year ahead, Guterres said the UN was “totally committed in the cause of peace in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and far beyond and tireless in delivering life-saving aid to those so desperate for support”.

The UN chief insisted humanitarian aid be allowed to “flow unimpeded” into Gaza, said no effort should be spared to stop the Russia-Ukraine war, and urged a resumption of talks to bring about a lasting ceasefire in Sudan.

Those three deadly, protracted conflicts have come to define Guterres’s time at the helm of the UN, with critics arguing the organisation has proved ineffective at conflict prevention.

The organisation’s top decision-making body, the Security Council, is paralysed because of tensions between the US, Russia and China, all three of which are permanent, veto-wielding members.

Dec. 19 (UPI) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was determined to continue the war in Ukraine until his conditions are met, which include taking Ukrainian territory.

Putin spoke at his annual press conference and touted Russia’s recent gains in the region.

“The strategic initiative is completely in the hands of the Russian forces,” Putin said. He added that Russia is “ready to end the conflict peacefully” if Ukraine cedes large areas of its eastern territories.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine won’t give up its land, which is set by the country’s constitution.

Russia has also demanded that Ukraine give up its bid to join NATO and said that if NATO members sent troops, Russia would view them as “legitimate targets.”

“The ball is entirely in the court of our Western opponents,” he said, adding that Russia had agreed to compromises proposed by the United States in its peace plan negotiated by the President Donald Trump administration.

Earlier this week, Zelensky was asked if Kyiv would give up its attempts to join NATO. He said Ukraine’s “position remains unchanged.”

“The United States don’t see us in NATO, for now,” he said. “Politicians change.”

European leaders have agreed to continue funding Ukraine in its fight against Russia with a two-year, $105 billion loan for munitions in the ongoing war.

European leaders couldn’t agree on their first choice to arm Ukraine using frozen Russian state assets to back the loan.

The plan to use frozen Russian assets fell apart in the final moments after Belgium pushed back, fearful that it would be at legal and financial risk. The bank holding the assets is in Belgium, and Russia has sued to block the plan.

European leaders announced Thursday that they will instead use money from the EU budget. The new plan could be more costly and difficult to mobilize.

Russian leader underscores Kremlin’s hardline stance on peace talks as Trump pushes for deal to end war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at his highly choreographed annual question-and-answer session in Moscow, has said his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuses to discuss territorial concessions.

The comments were made on Friday during the “Results of the Year” event, where Putin fielded questions from millions of Russians on topics ranging from domestic policy to the war.

Putin’s remarks are the latest in a drumbeat of often-repeated maximalist Russian positions nearly four years after he ordered troops into the neighbouring country, as United States President Donald Trump intensifies diplomatic efforts to broker a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.

The issue of territory gained, lost, to be ceded or not, delves into the heart of the matter on one of the most contentious issues in the talks to end the war so far.

“We know from statements from Zelenskyy that he’s not prepared to discuss territory issues,” Putin told attendees at the event in the capital’s Gostiny Dvor exhibition hall. Zelenskyy has indeed stated that clearly, but Ukraine’s constitution also forbids the ceding of land.

Putin has demanded Ukraine cede all territory in four key regions his forces have captured and occupied, along with Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014.

He also wants Ukrainian troops to withdraw from parts of eastern Ukraine that Russian forces have not yet taken in the eastern Donetsk region, where fighting remains attritional – conditions Kyiv has rejected outright.

Putin projected confidence about battlefield progress, saying Russian forces had “fully seized strategic initiative” and would make further gains before the year ends.

Moscow’s larger army has made steady advances in recent months, seizing between 12 and 17 square kilometres (4.5 and 6.6 square miles) daily in 2025, according to Western assessments.

The Russian president also attacked Western handling of frozen Russian assets, labelling plans to use them for Ukraine as “robbery” rather than theft because it was being done openly.

“Whatever they stole, they’ll have to give it back someday,” he said, pledging to pursue legal action in courts he described as “independent of political decisions”.

European Union leaders agreed to provide a hefty $105bn interest-free loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs in its war with Russia for the next two years, EU Council President Antonio Costa said.

The leaders decided early on Friday ‍to borrow cash on capital markets to fund Ukraine’s defence against Russia rather than use frozen Russian assets, diplomats said.

The annual event, which Putin has held in different formats since 2001, drew about three million questions from Russians via phone, text and online platforms. An artificial intelligence system processed the queries to identify common themes.

Putin’s comments come at a pivotal moment, and are watched closely by Western officials who will want to get a read on how he intends to present the situation on the ground to the Russian public.

Trump has launched a major diplomatic push to end nearly four years of fighting, but negotiations have stalled over sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

US officials estimate that Russia and Ukraine have suffered more than two million casualties since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022. Neither side discloses reliable loss figures.