Security Council paralysed but UN intact, says Guterres as term ends

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described the Security Council as paralysed by divisions among major powers, while rejecting the idea that the wider United Nations has failed. Speaking on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS summit, in remarks made as he prepares to leave office at the end of the year, he said the world has grown "very, very dangerous" because rival superpowers have not accepted that their power has limits.

According to Guterres, that rivalry has produced a culture of impunity in which mid-sized powers launch wars without regard for rules. He pointed to Sudan, where he said numerous outside countries have become involved in what ought to have remained an internal conflict. The deadlock at the Security Council, he argued, has left no mechanism to impose order internationally.

He maintained that the UN has nonetheless prevented a third world war and continues to deliver. Humanitarian agencies have kept working in dangerous regions despite funding cuts, peacekeeping missions remain deployed, and the organisation has supported reform of the international financial architecture. He also cited UN-led work on artificial intelligence, including the first international scientific panel and global dialogue on the technology.

On freedom of navigation, Guterres said the UN has been defending the principle in the Black Sea, the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb, where he said no tolls or selective access should be permitted. He recalled the Black Sea grain initiative and said the UN has proposed arrangements covering fertilisers for the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has not accepted, as well as possible exports of food, fertilisers and energy from the Black Sea by both Ukraine and Russia. Such steps, he said, require political will.

He said he has been in contact with leaders from Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia attending the summit. On Ukraine, he said he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the war and the Gulf situation from a shared standpoint favouring peace and unrestricted navigation. He praised India's sustained contacts with the parties and described it as well placed to act as a mediator and bridge-builder, noting that a lack of trust between the sides is a central obstacle.

Turning to global governance, Guterres said institutions including the Security Council and the Bretton Woods bodies still reflect the world of 1945 and underrepresent emerging economies. He said the problem is fundamentally one of power, creating deficits in both legitimacy and effectiveness, and that what he recommends amounts to more than reform — an overhaul. He rejected the suggestion that the UN is broken, saying no UN institution has collapsed and that the organisation retains the vitality to reform its own structures.

Asked about a resolution concerning the world map used by the UN, he said there is no such thing as a "UN map with borders".