The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres stated that “the United States of America (USA) believes that its power is more important than international law”.
Guterres told BBC radio that “Washington clearly believes that multilateral solutions are irrelevant.”
“What was important was the exercise of the power and influence of the United States of America, and sometimes in this respect the norms of international law,” Guterres said.
He added that he believes that the basic principles of the UN, including the equality of member states, are now under threat.
US President Donald Trump previously harshly criticized the United Nations.
Trump declared at the UN General Assembly last September that he himself “ended seven unstoppable wars”, and that the UN “didn’t even try to help with that”.
“I realized later that the UN is not there for us,” Trump said.
Faced with this damning assessment, Guterres admitted that the world organization is struggling to get members to respect the international laws set out in the UN Charter.
“The UN has been extremely involved in solving major global conflicts. But the UN has no influence – the big powers have a stronger influence,” said Guterres.
