Macron urges world to choose UN over ‘law of the jungle’

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Updated - September 23, 2026 03:35 am IST - United Nations, United States

France's President Emmanuel Macron addresses the 81 st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, U.S., on September 22, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron called Tuesday (September 22, 2026) for countries to recommit to international laws and the UN system over a resurgent "law of the jungle."

Mr. Macron, giving his last speech to the UN's signature annual diplomatic gathering as president, also railed against the humanitarian situation in Gaza while calling for a moratorium on strikes against civilian and energy targets in the Ukraine-Russia war .

"The question put to us, in very simple terms, is whether we want to live in this state of nature, with a kind of return to the law of the jungle, or in a civilized international society," he said.

"My message is to stand firm. Do not yield to the situation which is developing...The rhetoric of defeat that is giving way to abuse of power by empires, threatening the sovereignty of some nations," Mr. Macron said.

The French President, who has been a stalwart supporter of Ukraine and raised the country's case in a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday (September 21), called for Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a moratorium on striking civilian and energy targets.

"We've seen the destruction of civilian infrastructure, human rights violations. It's a new era of barbaric acts," he said.

"We must protect the civilian population, and this is why we'd like to express our support for a double moratorium, a moratorium on strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure," he added.

"What is our credibility worth if we remain inactive on Gaza? Some claim that peace has been achieved, but this has not opened up humanitarian deliveries. It is a spectacle that shames us all," he said.

Following several other leaders at the UN rostrum who had raised alarm about the risks posed by artificial intelligence, Mr. Macron proposed an alternative architecture for its development.

"I don't want anyone to become the vassal of one of the great powers. Rather, we must come together to build an open-source frontier model, a cutting-edge model," he told the UN General Assembly, apparently in reference to AI powerhouses China and the U.S.

"Our investment capabilities must be pooled to build a cutting-edge open-source AI model, which we will share. We should not depend on somebody else."