81st United Nations General Assembly - General Debate
Lavrov, Zelensky, Trump and more: reading the speeches of the countries in and around the Ukraine war
Saturday, September 26, 2026 (New York time) - United Nations Headquarters
🟢 On September 26, 2026, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took the podium at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. President Vladimir Putin has not attended the annual gathering in years, so his foreign minister delivers Moscow's message.
🟢 Lavrov vowed to continue the war in Ukraine, rejected any permanent Security Council seat for Germany and Japan, and attacked the West across the board. This article explains what he claimed, how the room reacted, what Zelensky and other leaders said, and how Western media covered it.
Summary in three points
🟢 Lavrov said Russia's goals in Ukraine will be "carried through to the end" and accused Western countries of destabilizing the world with force and double standards.
🟢 Just before speaking he held a rare meeting with Germany's foreign minister. He then signaled Russia would veto Security Council seats for Germany and Japan, and Japan's deputy ambassador pushed back.
🟢 On September 23, Zelensky told the Assembly that Russia's revenues must stay a target of pressure, and called Putin "Patient Zero" of the spread of war.
How to read the credibility labels
🟢 Confirmed by multiple reliable reports / 🟡 Single source, or a government's own claim / 🔵 Editorial analysis
What did Lavrov claim?
🟢 According to the United Nations' own news service, Lavrov accused Western countries of destabilizing the world through force and double standards. Quoting Putin, he described a single hegemon's dictatorship as having run amok and being dangerous for everyone around it.
| Topic | Lavrov's claim | Status and context |
| World order | A fairer, multipolar world is emerging. Countries of the Global South and East are asserting themselves as sovereign centers of development. | 🟡 Moscow's worldview. Russia presents itself as part of the Brics bloc of emerging economies. |
| War in Ukraine | Russia's objectives will be achieved. European governments arm Ukraine and obstruct peace talks. Marking 80 years since the Nuremberg trials, he accused European Union governments of tolerating what he called "Ukrainian Nazism" and of restricting the Russian language. | 🟡 Russia's official position. Associated Press notes that an overwhelming majority of Assembly members have repeatedly condemned the invasion. |
| United States | Says a deal to end the war was reached at the August 2025 Alaska summit with Trump and that Russia remains ready to return to it. Accuses Washington of destroying Europe's security system. | 🟡 Russia's account. The speech itself gives no confirmation of Washington's view. |
| Germany and Japan | No new permanent Security Council seats for either country, which he said had embarked on a path of militarization and revanchism. Russia would veto such a move. | 🟢 Reported consistently by the United Nations News Centre and Associated Press. Washington has long backed seats for both countries and India. |
| Middle East and Latin America | Condemned the seizure of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro and the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Said the Gaza peace plan has not delivered peace and warned West Bank settlement growth could make a Palestinian state impossible. Called for lifting the tightened blockade of Cuba. | 🟢 From the United Nations summary. Individual assessments reflect Russia's own view. |
| New initiative | Announced that Russia, Belarus and like-minded partners launched work on a Eurasian Charter on Diversity and Multipolarity. Accused the Western military alliance of extending its reach into Asia. | 🟢 From the United Nations summary. Practical impact is unproven. |
| Cybercrime and artificial intelligence | Welcomed the United Nations cybercrime convention and backed a China-led proposal for a world body on artificial intelligence cooperation. | 🟢 From the United Nations summary. |
🟢 He was just as combative at his press conference. He dismissed the meeting with Germany's foreign minister as producing nothing new and challenged Berlin to name a single commercial ship in the Black Sea hit by Russian strikes. On the attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport, he called it an unclaimed drone that Germany blamed on Russia immediately (Associated Press).
🔵 In plain terms, Lavrov tied the war in Ukraine to Venezuela, Iran and Gaza into one story: the West is the aggressor trying to rule the world. His target audience looks less like Europe and more like the Global South, countries that do not want to pick a side.
The room: empty Ukrainian seats and a pushback on the veto threat
🟢 According to an Associated Press photo caption, Ukraine's delegation seats were empty while Lavrov spoke. Reports available do not say whether this was a deliberate protest or simply absence.
🟢 Shortly before his speech, Lavrov met Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, at Berlin's request. It is believed to be the first such meeting since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The German side urged Moscow to abandon its dangerous path of escalation toward Germany, Europe and the Western alliance. In the Assembly Lavrov named Germany and asked, "Does Berlin understand what this could lead to?"
🟡 Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel that tens of diplomats came to shake Lavrov's hand and thank Russia. That is Moscow's own claim and has not been independently verified.
🟢 At the end of the session, Japan's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, identified by Associated Press as Mikanagi Tomohiro, replied. He said Japan is a peace-loving country and that freedom, democracy and human rights remain the foundation of every decision it takes.
🔵 None of the reports I could confirm describe applause or murmurs in the hall, so I do not invent any. What is clear is that the empty seats, the Germany meeting and the Japanese reply were the visible signs of how divided the world remains over this war.
Zelensky's speech: Russia's revenues must remain a target
🟢 Zelensky addressed the Assembly in English on Wednesday, September 23. His core message was to keep cutting the money that pays for the war. Trade that gives Russia more money, he argued, gives the war more time, and Ukraine will keep limiting trade with the aggressor while burning through Russia's revenues (Associated Press). In his words, "Russia's revenues must remain a target."
🟢 He called Putin "Patient Zero," the source from which war keeps spreading, and said that figure must be stopped. He also said Ukrainians did not choose this war and are simply defending themselves.
🟡 Cable News Network's live coverage adds that he mentioned two captured North Korean soldiers who fought for Russia being sent to South Korea, and that a Russian attack on Kyiv that day killed at least two people. Both points rest on that single live report.
🟢 On Friday, September 25, Zelensky told reporters he asked Trump to press China's leader Xi Jinping to use Beijing's influence over Moscow, and that Trump confirmed a decision to give Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot air defense systems. Washington is pushing for three-way technical talks without the leaders, and the United Arab Emirates was suggested as the venue (Associated Press).
Other countries: what leaders said about the war
| Country / speaker | Date | Key points | Status |
| United States - President Trump | Sept 22 | Voiced hope the war will end soon. Said he signed a new sanctions law that allows tariffs of up to 100 percent on the five biggest buyers of Russian oil or gas and will use it if needed, adding "It's time to stop the killing." Not yet enforced. The speech focused mostly on the Iran war. | 🟢 Public Broadcasting Service (Associated Press) |
| France - President Macron | Sept 22 | Called for a double moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure and on shipping in the Black Sea. | 🟡 Cable News Network live coverage only |
| Germany - Foreign Minister Wadephul | Sept 26 | Said Russia's war targets millions of lives, Ukraine's existence as a state and culture, and Europe's peace order. Urged negotiations to end the fighting. | 🟢 Associated Press |
| Russia - Lavrov at the Security Council | Sept 23 | Russia is ready to negotiate a lasting peace but will not simply pause the war, which he said would only buy Ukraine and its backers time to gather more weapons. | 🟢 Associated Press |
| Japan - deputy ambassador | Sept 26 | Rejected Lavrov's militarization charge and stressed Japan's peace-loving character. | 🟢 Associated Press |
🟢 Trump's patience is being tested by Ukraine's strikes on Russian refineries. Last week he claimed both sides agreed not to hit each other's energy infrastructure. Russia said it would only agree if Western energy sanctions were lifted first, and the strikes on refineries and energy sites have continued (Associated Press).
🔵 The weight each side gives the war differs sharply. Ukraine and Europe stress continued pressure, Russia stresses multipolarity and anti-Western grievance, and Washington stresses ending it quickly. That the American speech centered on Iran suggests Ukraine is slipping down Washington's diplomatic agenda.
How did Western media cover it?
🟢 The same speeches got different headlines depending on the outlet. Here is what I could verify.
| Outlet | Subject | Angle | What to notice |
| Associated Press (distributed by Public Broadcasting Service and others) | Lavrov speech | Led with Lavrov rejecting German calls to ease off escalation, the rare Germany meeting, the veto threat against Germany and Japan, and Japan's reply. | Framed Zakharova's handshake post as Russia projecting strength. Added casualty estimates, the intensifying air war, and a photo of Ukraine's empty seats. |
| United Nations News Centre (the organization's own service) | Lavrov speech | Led with his call for a new Eurasian security architecture, then summarized the Middle East, Venezuela and artificial intelligence. | Not a news outlet but the institution's own communications arm. Summarizes without adding judgment. |
| Cable News Network | Zelensky speech | Centered on the "Patient Zero" line, plus the Kyiv attack that day and the North Korean prisoners. | Day-by-day live blog of key moments. Only summaries were visible to me. |
| Associated Press / Public Broadcasting Service | Trump speech | Centered on Iran. On Ukraine, described his frustration and the sanctions law. A separate fact-check was published. | Ukraine treated as one part of a wider speech. |
| Al-Quds (Palestinian outlet, non-Western, for reference) | Lavrov speech | Called multipolarity the most prominent theme. | Reads Moscow as trying to widen the stakes from Ukraine to the redistribution of global power. |
🔵 Compare the framing: Associated Press put a concrete clash, Russia against Germany and Japan, first, while the United Nations service put a long-term concept, the Eurasian charter, first. Both are accurate. What goes first is an editorial choice, so read several outlets side by side rather than trusting a headline.
🟢 This article relies only on reporting I could confirm. I could not read full articles from other major outlets, so I have not included them.
Japan in the crosshairs, read without Japanese media
🟢 This article draws only on official United Nations material and foreign reporting. I did not consult Japanese domestic media coverage or commentary, so that framing and headline choices do not shape the reading.
🟢 For Japanese readers the key point is that Lavrov named Japan and signaled a veto against permanent membership. Adding permanent seats requires amending the United Nations Charter, and ratification needs the agreement of all five current permanent members, so Russian opposition alone is a major obstacle.
🔵 Moscow's argument rests on a historical claim that defeated Axis powers should not gain new privileges. Yet in the same speech Russia backed permanent seats for Brazil and India and more representation for Africa. That is not opposition to reform itself but selective reform, leaving out Japan and Germany and admitting non-Western powers, which fits its multipolar message.
Conclusion: how to read this speech
🔵 First, Russia's war aims show no change. Lavrov said they will be carried through to the end and described peace as a return to the August 2025 Alaska framework. Zelensky wants revenue-cutting sanctions. The two positions remain far apart.
🔵 Second, the real diplomacy is outside the hall. Washington proposes three-way technical talks but no date is set. Putin said proposals to resume talks are on the table while promising to think carefully. The sanctions law Trump signed has not yet been enforced.
🔵 Third, the front lines are largely unchanged since last year while long-range drone and missile strikes intensify. Words at a podium cannot break that stalemate. Watch whether sanctions are enforced, whether the three-way talks happen, and how the Security Council seat question for Japan and Germany develops.
🟢 For context, Associated Press reports that Western analysts estimate over 500,000 Russian troops killed since the start of the war, while Ukraine has recorded more than 500,000 military casualties, including up to 140,000 deaths. Neither country discloses its own totals.
Main sources
- United Nations News Centre: summary of Lavrov's address (September 26, 2026)
- Associated Press: Zelensky's address to the Assembly (September 23)
- Public Broadcasting Service / Associated Press: Zelensky's report on his U.S. trip (September 25)
- Public Broadcasting Service / Associated Press: Trump's address (September 22)
- Cable News Network: key moments of day two (headline and summary only)
🔵 This article organizes and analyzes public information and does not judge which party's claims are correct. Circumstances change daily, so please check the latest reporting.
