Ukraine situation, Food & Energy Crisis expected to be main topics in UN's High-Level Week

The situation in Ukraine and the food and energy crisis are expected to be the focus of the upcoming high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly session, Sputnik reported. The General Debate of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly is set to take place from September 20 to 26 in New York.

According to experts, the Ukraine conflict will be one of the issues that will be raised during the high-level week of UNGA. A meeting of the Security Council on the situation in Ukraine is expected to take place at the ministerial level on September 22. The meeting will be attended by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba. Furthermore, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to participate in the meeting. US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to attend the high-level week of the UNGA session.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation for the high-level week at the 77th Session of the UNGA. The theme of the 77th UNGA is "A Watershed Moment Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges." According to the UN, the theme has been selected as the world is at a "critical moment in the history of the United Nations due to complex and interconnected crises", including the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, humanitarian challenges of unprecedented nature, climate change and concerns regarding threats to the global economy.

Lavrov to address UN's general debate 

Moreover, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Iranian leader Ebrahim Raisi are expected to attend the UNGA meeting. The Russian delegation to the United Nations is led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He is due to address the high-level week's general debate on September 24. Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Lavrov will address the UNGA and participate in several bilateral meetings and multilateral events. 

Zakharova underscored that Russia will defend its "principled approaches" in the upcoming session of the UNGA. During his visit to New York, Lavrov will also hold a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Speaking to Sputnik, Guterres said that he intends to discuss the grain agreement and the export of Russian food and fertilizers to the global market. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address the General Assembly through a pre-recorded video speech.

'The General Assembly is meeting at a time of great peril': Guterres

On September 14, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that "the General Assembly is meeting at a time of great peril." He further added, "Geostrategic divides are the widest they have been since at least the Cold War. They are paralyzing the global response to the dramatic challenges we face."

Speaking to reporters, Guterres underscored that the war in Ukraine is "devastating" a nation and affecting the global economy. He warned that there is a "real risk of multiple famines this year" despite the Black Sea Grain Initiative signed in Istanbul and the UN's efforts to transport Russian food and fertilizers to global markets. 

Image: AP