Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is addressing world leaders at the UN General Assembly. It comes as Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared his thanks to Donald Trump for America’s support. Follow the latest.
Saturday 27 September 2025 17:55, UK
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After addressing the UN General Assembly, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is now holding a news conference in New York.
You can watch his comments in the stream at the top of this page.
Our US correspondent Mark Stone is in New York and says Sergei Lavrov’s address to the UN General Assembly featured a “typically colourful” reflection of how he sees the world order.
Lavrov began his speech to world leaders by talking about the “many relentless attempts to divide the world into ‘us and them’, into democracy or autocracy”.
Stone says many people will see a lesson in hypocrisy over his words, which were followed by a condemnation of Israel’s actions in Gaza (see 17.14 post).
“Lavrov said Israel is bombing schools, it is bombing hospitals in Gaza.
“Well, remember Mariupol and the rest of those cities in Ukraine, where Russia has and continues to do just the same thing? There’s a certain hypocrisy there, for sure.”
Watch below to hear Stone’s full thoughts on Lavrov’s address, including the diplomat’s threats against any aggression towards Russia by NATO and EU countries…
Sergei Lavrov is now speaking about accusations against Russia of planning to attack NATO countries.
Several nations in eastern Europe have accused Moscow of violating their airspace with jets and drones in recent weeks, which the Kremlin has denied.
“Russia is being accused of almost planning to attack the North Atlantic Alliance and European Union countries,” Lavrov said.
“President Putin has repeatedly debunked these provocations, Russia does not have and does not have any such intentions.
“However, any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response. Let there be no doubt about this in NATO and the EU.”
Lavrov now turns to Ukraine and says Russia is still open to negotiations to end the war.
He said: “As President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasised, Russia has been and remains open to negotiations on eliminating the root causes of the conflict.
“Russia’s security and its vital interest must be reliably agreed.
“The rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people in the territories that remain under control of the Kyiv regime must be restored in full.
“On this basis, we are ready to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.”
Sergei Lavrov begins his address by speaking generally about the state of the international order, before switching to the current war in Gaza.
He says that Russia condemns the October 7 attack led by Hamas militants into Gaza but says there is “no justification of brutal killings of Palestinians” since then.
Lavrov added that there is also no justification for Israeli plans to annex the West Bank and criticises countries for only recognising Palestinian statehood now at the UN General Assembly
Keeping in the Middle East, Russia’s foreign minister says Western efforts to reimpose sanctions on Iran are “illegal”.
We’re now hearing from Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
You can watch his address to the UN General Assembly in the stream at the top of this page.
We’ll also be providing text updates here in the blog.
Sergei Lavrov’s address to the UN comes with alarm bells ringing around Europe following multiple intrusions into NATO airspace in recent weeks.
NATO jets were forced to down drones over Poland at the start of September and Estonia said Russian fighter jets flew into its airspace and lingered for 12 minutes last week.
Airports in Denmark and Norway have also had to close after reports of drones in their airspace in recent days.
Russia has denied that its planes entered Estonian airspace, said its drones didn’t target Poland and denied any involvement in Scandinavia, but European leaders see the incidents as intentional moves meant to test NATO.
Watch: Drones shot down in Poland
Russia’s foreign ministry has released images of Sergei Lavrov meeting with his counterparts from Algeria and Nicaragua in New York.
Lavrov is due to address the UN General Assembly later and will hold a news conference after to summarise Russia’s week in the US.
The UN General Assembly has heard from a handful of world leaders already today.
The prime ministers of the Bahamas, Grenada, Burkina Faso, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Niger have all taken to the podium.
As a reminder, we’re due to hear from Russia’s Sergei Lavrov shortly.
As world leaders prepare to hear from Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov later today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has taken to social media to remind them that “America stands with Ukraine”.
His message, in which he thanked Donald Trump for his support, was accompanied by a photo of the pair and their wives, Olena Zelenska and Melania Trump, standing side by side.
It comes days after Trump, in a major shift, said he believed Ukraine could win the war and retake all the territory that Russia has occupied.
He said Moscow had been “fighting aimlessly” for three-and-a-half years, and also appeared to pour cold water on his hopes of persuading Vladimir Putin to sign a peace deal.
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