Source: United Nations (video statements)
Secretary-General António Guterres says the wide-ranging UN80 Initiative, a major reform and restructuring project, is helping the United Nations better serve people and the planet.
UN80 Initiative – UN Chief’s remarks | United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Remarks by António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, on the Informal meeting of the plenary to hear a briefing on the UN80 Initiative – General Assembly, 80th session.
International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers 2026 (29 May) – UN Chief Message | United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Video Message by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the International Day of Peacekeepers.
"Right now, more than 50,000 UN peacekeepers are deployed across the globe protecting civilian lives.
Far from home, in some of the world’s most dangerous settings, they deescalate tensions between hostile parties, oversee aid delivery, support elections, and create space for political solutions to grow.
On this International Day, we honour peacekeepers past and present, and reaffirm our shared responsibility to respect and strengthen their work.
We pay tribute to the nearly 4,500 peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948, including 59 last year.
No one should die serving the cause of peace.
Attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law, and Member States must uphold their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel at all times.
In an era of rising tensions, peacekeeping is a proven and cost-effective way to restore stability and hope.
But it requires steady political backing – and reliable financial support.
This year’s theme, Invest in Peace, calls for decisive action to ensure peacekeepers have the resources to carry out their vital mandates.
An investment in peacekeeping is an investment in a safer future.
Let us always support the people who help make peace possible.
Thank you."
More info: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en
China: Upholding the UN Charter & Strengthening the International System – Media Stakeout | UN
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Briefing by Wang Yi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, on Upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and strengthening the UN-centered international system – Security Council Media Stakeout.
Russian Federation on the strike on the college in Starobelsk – Press Conference | United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Press conference by Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, regarding the strike on the college in Starobelsk.
Following the 22 May drone attack on a student dormitory and educational buildings in Starobelsk, Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told journalists in New York that Russian investigative authorities have opened a criminal case on charges of terrorism, and said, “all those responsible will be identified and will face inevitable and severe punishment.”
Nebenzya said “86 students aged 14 to 19 were among – with one staff member – were living in the dormitory,” stressing that “these were children and teenagers. They were not on the front line.”
According to the latest reports, he said, “21 people, mostly young girls, were killed and 63 students were injured in this horrific attack.”
The Russian Ambassador said, “the deliberate nature of the attack is further confirmed by the fact that 16 UAVs targeted the same location in three successive waves, causing the five-storey dormitory building to collapse down to the second floor. Yet another glaring manifestation of the Nazi and terrorist character of the Kyiv regime, which does not hesitate to kill minors in cold blood.”
Starobelsk is located in Luhansk Oblast, in eastern Ukraine. The city is under Russian control.
Nebenzia said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “is exterminating his former fellow citizens for refusing to live under his neo-Nazi rule,” adding, “how can he hypocritically argue that people matter more than territories when he is responsible for such terrorist attacks?”
He insisted the Russian Federation does not “target civilians deliberately. Unlike what the Ukrainian armed forces are doing, not just in Starobelsk, which we are discussing today, but they were doing that on a regular basis. Even before that.”
According to news reports, Ukraine admits striking a military site in Starobelsk on 22 May but denies striking any civilian infrastructure.
Ukraine: Calls for Immediate and Unconditional Ceasefire – Security Council Stakeout |United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk today (26 May) “strongly condemned Russia’s escalating attacks” against civilians, civilian objects, and Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure, as they “constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and must cease immediately” and called for “a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”
Melnyk, together with ambassadors from 49 member states and the European Union, told reporters in New York that “on the night of May 23rd to May 24th, Russian armed forces launched one of the largest combined attacks against Ukraine, employing hundreds of aerial weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles.”
For the city of Kyiv, he said, “this was one of the most devastating attacks recorded to date” while “other regions of Ukraine were also severely affected” and “many civilians have been killed and injured across Ukraine.”
Moreover, Melnyk continued, “the Russian Federation appears to have struck the city of Bila Tserkva with an Oreshnik medium range ballistic missile specifically designed to carry nuclear warheads.”
He said, “Russia’s repeated use of nuclear capable missiles constitutes an unacceptable escalation.”
The Ukrainian Ambassador said Russia’s “ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine constitutes a grave and continuing violation of the Charter of the United Nations, and of fundamental principles of international law, and undermines the rules based international order as well as international peace and security.”
He welcomed “the sustained efforts of the United States, European countries and other member states aimed at bringing this war to an end” and said, “we stand united in our determination to achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Ukraine consistent with the UN charter, including the principles of sovereign equality and territorial integrity of states.”
Ukraine, UNIFIL, Ebola & other topics – Daily Press Briefing (26 May 2026) | United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Security Council
Ukraine
UNIFIL
Lebanon/Humanitarian
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Ebola
Sudan/Personal Envoy
Sudan
Haiti
Pakistan
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
SECURITY COUNCIL
The Secretary-General briefed the Security Council this morning on the importance of upholding the UN Charter. He said that the United Nations Charter is a survival guide for humanity, but today, the purposes and principles of the Charter are under profound strain. We now face the highest number of conflicts since the founding of the United Nations, Mr. Guterres warned.
The Secretary-General said that he was deeply concerned by a recent announcement by the Russian Federation to launch consistent and systemic strikes against Ukrainian defense enterprises in Kyiv, as well as against decision making centres and command posts, following reports of a Ukrainian drone attack on a college building and dormitory in the Ukrainian city of Starobilsk, presently occupied by the Russian Federation. He noted that on Friday, we condemned the attack on the school, as we condemn all attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur.
Now more than ever, he said, it is imperative to avoid any escalation of a conflict that has already exacted a devastating toll on civilians, and that risks making the search for peace even more distant, prolonging the suffering of people.
The Secretary-General added that this takes place as Israel has announced an escalation of its operations in Lebanon, we witness constant violations of the ceasefire in Gaza and the result of negotiations between the United States and Iran to end the conflict in the Gulf remain unpredictable.
He told the Council that there is a need for reform and nowhere is this need more urgent than in the Security Council. A Security Council that does not reflect the geopolitical realities of today’s world cannot fully deliver on its responsibilities, he said.
UKRAINE
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that over the weekend, the capital Kyiv and its neighbouring regions suffered from one of the largest combined air attacks on the country since the start of the full-scale war in 2022. There were scores of civilian casualties and civilian infrastructure sustained widespread damage.
According to authorities, an attack in Kyiv on Sunday killed at least 2 people and injured nearly 90 others, including several children, and destroyed or damaged residential buildings, a market, a trading centre, a subway station and other public spaces, including museums and other cultural sites.
The Humanitarian Coordinator, Matthias Schmale, visited one of the impacted sites in Kyiv and called for an end to civilian harm.
A drone struck a residential building next to UN offices, damaging the windows and facade of the business centre, including the World Health Organization office. Thankfully, no civilians, including aid workers, were injured in this incident.
Between January and April, at least 62 incidents affecting humanitarian personnel, vehicles, supplies and facilities were recorded across the country, according to our partners monitoring access constraints and operational risks.
Apart from Kyiv, attacks across the country and front-line hostilities between May 22nd and the early hours of May 25th killed nearly 20 and injured over 200 more civilians, with the regions of Kherson, Dnipro, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk reportedly repeatedly impacted.
Humanitarians provided immediate emergency support after the attacks. In Kyiv City and the regions of Kyiv and Cherkasy, several national NGOs, with support from UN agencies, provided psychological support, legal assistance, protection counselling and emergency supplies to people affected by the attacks. Aid organizations also registered people for humanitarian cash assistance.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-05-26
Ukraine on Russia – Security Council Media Stakeout | United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Remarks by His Excellency Mr. Dr. Andrii Melnyk, LL.M., Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, on Russia’s deliberate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
Upholding the UN Charter and Strengthening the International System – UN Chief’s remarks | UN
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Remarks by António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, on the Upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and strengthening the UN-centered international system – Security Council, 10159th meeting.
UN Peacekeeping Body Armor For Women
Source: United Nations (video statements)
With their new, specialized personal protective equipment, Zambian women peacekeepers serving with MINUSCA, the UN mission in the Central African Republic, are able to carry out their mandated tasks more comfortably and safely.
The "Women’s Body Armor Quadrilateral Pilot Project", launched in 2023 by the U.S., Netherlands, Ghana, and Zambia, is a $3 million initiative that tests properly fitting body armor for women peacekeepers to improve safety and operational effectiveness.
Ahead of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, we recognize the vital role of women peacekeepers in advancing protection, security, and stability around the world.
To #InvestInPeace, we must invest in women.