UNGA Updates: Syria’s Al-sharaa Urges End To All Sanctions And More

Syrian president calls for global support amid Israeli attacks

• 8h ago (01:55 GMT)Thanks for joining us The second day of the UN General Assembly’s General Debate has ended, and this live page is now closed. Read more about President Trump’s dramatic turn of face this week on Ukraine here. To learn more about Ukraine and Syria formally restoring diplomatic ties after meeting on the UNGA’s sidelines, read this. For more information on Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s speech, in which he pledged Tehran will “never seek to build a nuclear bomb”, read this piece.
• 8h ago (01:45 GMT)Here’s what happened on Wednesday’s session of the UN General Assembly.
• Here are some of the day’s main developments:
  • In his speech to the UNGA, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the international community to invest in weapons, not words, to support Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines, telling the Russian delegation that the killing must stop in Ukraine.Ahmed al-Sharaa became the first Syrian president in nearly six decades to address the UNGA, using his remarks to call for “the complete lifting” of sanctions against his country.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country “has never sought and will never seek to build a nuclear bomb”, as he pitched his country as a “trustworthy companion” to those facing Israeli aggression.Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy believes “Israel has no right to prevent the future creation of a Palestinian state, nor to build new settlements in the West Bank”.Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his country would be sending a military vessel to accompany the Global Sumud Flotilla as it attempts to deliver aid to Gaza, following the most recent drone attack on the fleet of vessels carrying aid.
• 8h ago (01:30 GMT)Iran rejects Australia’s ‘baseless, unsubstantiated allegations’ at UNGAEarlier, we reported that Australian Prime Minister Albanese condemned Iran in his speech to the UN General Assembly for allegedly orchestrating attacks against Australia’s Jewish community.In its right to reply at the end of Wednesday’s UNGA session, the Iranian representative said Tehran “categorically rejects the baseless and unsubstantiated allegations” made by Albanese, and views them as “being in alignment with the Israeli regime [and a] broader strategy of promoting Iran-phobia”.“The concept of anti-Semitism has regrettably been weaponised to silence legitimate criticism and protest against occupation, apartheid and the ongoing crimes being committed by the Israeli regime against the Palestinian people,” Iran’s representative said.
• 8h ago (01:15 GMT)More on Meloni’s Israel-Palestine comments at UN General AssemblyAs we have been reporting, the Italian premier addressed the recognition of Palestinian statehood a short while ago.Meloni also addressed Israel’s war on Gaza, saying that while she believes the “ferocity and brutality” of the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel prompted an initial legitimate response, Israel has now “exceeded that limit”.“The Jewish state has ended up violating humanitarian norms, causing a massacre among civilians,” Meloni said.“This choice, which Italy has repeatedly deemed unacceptable, will lead us to vote in favour of some of the sanctions proposed by the European Commission against Israel,” she said.Meloni added, however, that Italy does “not side with those who heap all the blame for what is happening in Gaza on Israel”.“Because it was Hamas that unleashed the war,” she continued.“It is Hamas that could end the suffering of Palestinians by immediately releasing all the hostages. It is Hamas that seems intent on thriving on the suffering of the people it claims to represent,” she said.
• 9h ago (01:00 GMT)Italy’s Meloni says Israel has ‘no right’ to prevent creation of Palestinian stateSpeaking at the UNGA a short while ago, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy believes “Israel has no right to prevent the future creation of a Palestinian state, nor to build new settlements in the West Bank”.“To that end, for this reason, we have signed the New York Declaration on the two-state solution. This is Italy’s historic position on the Palestinian question, and has never changed,” Meloni said.“At the same time, we believe that the recognition of Palestine must have two indispensable preconditions: the release of all Israeli hostages and Hamas renunciation of any role in the government of Palestine, for those who unleash the conflict cannot be rewarded,” she said.
• 9h ago (00:45 GMT)Australian PM Albanese reiterates call for Gaza ceasefire, takes aim at IranAustralian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reiterated his country’s calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and for aid to flow freely into the war-torn enclave, as well as the immediate release of Israelis held captive by Hamas, in his speech to the UNGA.“This week, Australia recognised the state of Palestine because … we are determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, to promote social progress, and better standards of life,” he said.Albanese also used his speech to condemn attacks on Australia’s Jewish community – which, in August, Canberra accused Iran of orchestrating – describing them as “criminal acts of cowardice aimed at spreading fear”.“We expelled the Iranian ambassador from Australia, the first time since the Second World War that our country has taken such a step. And here at the United Nations, we repeat to the world, there is no place for anti-Semitism,” he said.
• 9h ago (00:30 GMT)Latvian president says Russia ‘doesn’t want peace’Speaking at the UNGA, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said, “Russia wants a world where brute force prevails over international law,” adding that Moscow “doesn’t want peace”.Rinkevics added that “Ukraine is fighting for all of us; for the rules-based international order; for independence and sovereignty; for territorial integrity”.The Latvian leader’s comments came after three Russian MiG-31 fighter aircraft violated the airspace of neighbouring Estonia for more than 10 minutes on Tuesday.
• 9h ago (00:15 GMT)Rubio meets with Lavrov at UNGA, calls for ‘killing to stop’ in UkraineUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.In a brief statement, the US State Department said Rubio “reiterated President Trump’s call for the killing to stop and the need for Moscow to take meaningful steps toward a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war”.Russia-US relations are increasingly strained after Trump seemingly reversed his position on whether Ukraine would have to cede territory to Moscow on Tuesday, claiming he believes Ukraine can reclaim all its occupied lands.

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