Tag: europe

Sergey Lavrov said power was slipping through the hands of the old order, dominated by Washington, which has long rejected the principle of equality.

Americans and Europeans “make all sorts of promises…and then just don’t fulfil them”, he told delegates.

Quoting President Vladimir Putin, he said the West was “truly an empire of lies” which even during the battle against Nazism in World War Two, had plotted an offensive against their Soviet allies.

Soviet and then Russian leaders “were given concrete political assurances regarding the non-expansion of the NATO military alliance to the east”, which turned out to be pure deception.

Washington and Brussels have ceaselessly sought to expand their interests and alliances to subordinate the Global South and East, rejecting Russia’s desire for mutual security guarantees, he stated.

West’s ‘hybrid war against our country’

Turning to Ukraine, he said the West had “continued its ongoing militarisation of the Russophobic Kyiv regime”, brought to power via a “bloody coup” in 2014 and took that opportunity to “wage a hybrid war against our country.”

The aim since then, has been the strategic defeat of Russia he argued, with the US-led offensive now stretching into outer space and disinformation online.

Mr. Lavrov said it was “obvious” that its creation of subordinate alliances was “targeted against Russia and China” in a bid to sabotage more “inclusive” regional forums.

He said even in terms of culture, the anti-colonial “global majority” has had enough of the Western “yoke” and attacks on their religions, traditional values and sovereignty.

He saw Russia and China as defenders of a new multipolar architecture – the ascendent world order – and now the West is doing all it can to block it.

‘Coercive measures’

The Russian Foreign Minister decried US-led use of unilateral sanctions and “coercive measures”, defending Cuba, Venezuela, Syria and others, while Washington continues its effort to “Ukrainize” the international agenda.

He said it was time for full reform of “global governance architecture” including UN-led international financial mechanisms and the United Nations’ key bodies – together with what he said was a Secretariat biased in favour of capitals in NATO and the European Union.

Mr. Lavrov spoke up for Security Council expansion to include Asia, Africa and Latin America.

He said reform needed to be based on a new, balanced consensus, giving the example of the BRICS bloc of economic powers – set to expand beyond Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa.

Avoid ‘large scale war’

Mr. Lavrov closed his case with an appeal for compromise, saying “humanity is at a crossroads…It is in our shared interest to prevent a downward spiral into large scale war.”

He invoked the Secretary-General’s call for world leaders to meet and negotiate in the spirit of compromise at this year’s UN General Assembly, “when designing our common future for our common good.”

“This is an excellent response to those who divide our world up into democracies and autocracies and dictate their neocolonial rules to others”, he concluded.

Full statement in Russian available here

Mr. Dowden said the so-named AI Safety Summit, set for November, will aim to preempt the risks posed by frontier AI and explore how it can be used for the public good.

“AI is the biggest transformation the world has known,” he emphasized, noting that it is going to change everything we do, the way we live, relations between nations, and it is going to change the United Nations, fundamentally.

“Our task as governments is to understand it, grasp it, and seek to govern it, and we must do so at great speed,” he stressed.

We don’t know its boundaries

Mr. Dowden drew parallels between the work of inventors Thomas Edison (lightbulb) and Tim Berners-Lee (email) and the potential of artificial intelligence today.

“They could not – surely – have respectively envisaged the illumination of the New York skyline at night or the wonders of the modern internet … but they suspected the transformative power of their inventions.”

He emphasized that frontier AI has the potential not just to similarly transform our lives, but to reimagine our understanding of science, from decoding the smallest particles to the farthest reaches of the universe.

Opportunities v. risks

One of the main concerns highlighted by the Deputy Prime Minister is the unprecedented speed at which AI is evolving, with the pace having far-reaching implications, both in terms of the opportunities it presents and the risks it poses.

On the positive side, AI models currently under development could play a pivotal role in addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges: clean energy, climate action, food production or detecting diseases and pandemics.

“In fact, every single challenge discussed at this year’s General Assembly – and more – could be improved or even solved by AI,” he stated.

However, amidst the promise of AI, Mr. Dowden also sounded a cautionary note, underscoring the dangers of misuse, citing examples such as hacking, cyberattacks, deepfakes and the potential loss of control over AI systems.

“Indeed, many argue this technology is like no other, in the sense that its creators themselves don’t know how it works … the principal will therefore come from misuse, misadventure, or misalignment with human objectives,” he added.

“There is no future in which this technology does not develop at an extraordinary pace,” he said, and while companies were doing their best to set up guardrails, “the starting gun has been fired on a globally competitive race in which individual companies as well as countries will strive to push the boundaries as far and fast as possible.”

Objectives of the AI summit

Against this backdrop, the AI Safety Summit will focus on addressing extreme risks associated with frontier AI, the Deputy Prime Minister said.

The summit aims to bring together experts, policymakers and stakeholders to explore strategies for mitigating these risks while harnessing the positive potential of AI for public good.

“We cannot afford to become trapped in debates about whether AI is a tool for good or a tool for ill, it will be a tool for both. We must prepare for both and insure against the latter,” he urged.

Full statement available here.

Robert Abela told leaders gathered for the UN General Assembly’s annual debate that the voices of all countries – large and small, rich and poor – and of all elements for civil society must be heard and play a role in building and sustaining a better world.

“We must build a new age of security. Not by trying to turn the clock back. But by getting the future right!”

Going to highlight the importance of “rebuilding trust to achieve sustainability for all”, he underscored Malta’s commitment to diplomacy and multilateralism.

Malta is deeply committed to nurturing international relations and that his country, conscious of its unique geographic position at the crossroads of Europe and Africa, steps us in a pivotal role, building bridges and understanding between different traditions.

He added, “Earlier this month we were proud to be just such a bridge.” Trusted by both sides, the country hosted talks between the United States Security Adviser and China’s Foreign Minister.

Russian aggression

Regarding the war in Ukraine, he stated that Malta’s response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine and other crises around the world has been guided by the value of neutrality which is in enshrined in Malta’s constitution.

He added that Malta’s neutrality means that the nation will continue to be directly opposed to military aggression and unilateral action against the members of the international community and the rules-based order.

Talking about the consequences of the war, he said, “the already precarious situation of global food security has been made worse by the invasion of Ukraine and an estimated extra 122 million people have been pushed into hunger since 2019.”

The Prime Minister urged Russia to rejoin the Black Sea Initiative and to stop disrupting delivery of vital food supplies leaving Ukraine to feed the world’s most needy.

Good neighbourliness

Closer to home, Mr. Abela said that the situation in Libya is the most pressing issue in the Mediterranean region. As such, Malta wishes to see peaceful, stable, and prosperous Libya through a Libyan led political process and urged the international community to encourage this process.

Stressing that the Libyan people need to recover and rebuild after the tragic devastation of storm Daniel, he stressed the importance of a lasting settlement in Libya, that will not only give Libyans the effective government they deserve but will also be imperative for peace in the whole Mediterranean region.

Climate action

“The time for excuses is long over,” the Prime Minister said. Climate change is a very real emergency, the consequences of which are being felt in every part of the world.

Current pledges and current targets are not sufficient to keep the 1.5°C objective of the Paris Agreement within reach.

Adding that for a maritime nation like Malta, the sea plays a profound part in Malta’s national life, he said “Rising sea levels are a severe threat to the security, the livelihood and indeed, the very existence of island countries like ours… which is why we have made climate and oceans the number one priority during our term at the United Nations Security Council.”

He emphasized, “We must preserve the sovereignty of the coastal states, no matter what the ravages of the sea. As island nations, we turn to the world, but we don’t turn our backs on each other.”

Small island developing States

Talking about how Malta experienced many of the same challenges which are currently being faced by developing countries, Mr. Abela shared how they have made raising awareness of the unique vulnerabilities of small island developing States a top priority and why supporting sustainable development for island nations is a cornerstone of Malta’s foreign policy.

Full statement available here.