UN Chief Accuses US of Disregarding International Law

The United States is acting with impunity and believes its power matters more than international law, the head of the UN, António Guterres, has told the BBC.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr. Guterres said Washington's "clear conviction" was that multilateral solutions were irrelevant. What mattered, he continued, was the "exercise of the power and influence of the United States and sometimes in this respect by the norms of international law."

His comments follow recent US actions in international affairs, including its influence in Venezuela's leadership and former President Donald Trump's repeated threats to annex Greenland.

Mr. Guterres said he believed the founding principles of the UN – including the equality of member states – were now under threat. President Trump has previously been scathing in his criticism of the United Nations, using his address at a General Assembly to question its very purpose, claiming he had "ended seven unendable wars" on his own and the UN "did not even try to help in any of them."

Presented with this damning assessment, Mr. Guterres admitted his organization was struggling to make members abide by the international laws laid out in the UN Charter. The UN was "extremely engaged" in solving major global conflicts, he insisted, but "the UN has no leverage – the big powers have stronger leverage."

He questioned whether that extra leverage was being used to produce real and enduring solutions to those conflicts, or just quick fixes, noting: "There is a big difference between the two things."

Mr. Guterres also said his organization needed reform to tackle "dramatic problems and challenges" facing its 193 members. "There are those that believe the power of law should be replaced by the law of power," the UN chief stated.

He suggested the UN Security Council – designed to maintain international peace and security – no longer represented the world and was "ineffective." Any one of the council's permanent members – France, China, Russia, the UK, or the US – can currently veto resolutions. Both Russia and the US have used this power to frustrate global efforts to end conflicts, including in Ukraine and Gaza.

Mr. Guterres claimed vetoes were being used to further individual members' interests and criticized the fact that "three European countries" were permanent members. He called for changes to the council's composition – to "regain legitimacy" and "give voice to the whole world" – and to limit veto powers to avoid unacceptable "blockages."

In his annual remarks to the General Assembly, Mr. Guterres warned of a world in chaos, "brimming with conflict, impunity, inequality and unpredictability," identifying "brazen violations of international law" as one of the biggest challenges facing the global order.

Regarding Gaza, where the UN was often prevented from distributing aid for long periods, Mr. Guterres affirmed: "We were ready, provided we had the conditions." He stressed that "1945 problem-solving" wouldn't solve "2026 problems," referring to the organization's founding structure.

The challenges keep coming, with questions about the death of multilateralism and the failure of some world leaders to defend the rule of international law growing ever louder. But Mr. Guterres remained positive, stating: "I think that people are sometimes reluctant to confront the powerful. But the truth is that if we don't confront the powerful, we will never be able to have a better world."