UN Chief Accuses US of Disregarding International Law

Tue Jan 20 2026 00:36:06 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a recent BBC interview, UN Secretary-General António Guterres criticized the United States for prioritizing its power over international law, raising concerns about the erosion of multilateralism.

During an interview with BBC Radio 4, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed that the United States operates under a belief that its power supersedes international law, showing a troubling shift towards unilateralism. He emphasized the need for reform within the UN to enhance its effectiveness and restore the founding principles of equality among member states. Guterres highlighted the challenges of enforcing international law amidst the influence of major powers and called for a reevaluation of the UN Security Council's structure and veto powers, urging for a system that truly represents the global community.

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

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, António 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 come weeks after the US struck Venezuela and seized its president - and in the context of Donald Trump's repeated threats to annex Greenland.

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.

He used his address at last September's 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. He suggested the UN wasn't effective for the US purposes.

Presented with this damning assessment, Guterres admitted his organisation 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. There is a big difference between the two things, he noted.

Guterres also said his organisation needed reform to tackle dramatic problems and challenges facing its 193 members.

He stressed: There are those that believe the power of law should be replaced by the law of power. Indeed, when one sees the present policy of the United States, there is a clear conviction that multilateral solutions are not relevant and that what matters is the exercise of the power and the influence of the United States.

He suggested the UN Security Council - designed to maintain international peace and security - no longer represented the world and was ineffective.

Every permanent member has the power to veto resolutions. Both Russia and the US wielded this power, hindering global efforts to address the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Guterres claimed vetoes were used to benefit individual members' interests, and criticized the presence of three European countries as permanent members.

As he heads toward the end of his term, Guterres called for changes to the council's composition to regain legitimacy and to restrict veto powers to prevent unacceptable blockages.

In his recent remarks to the General Assembly, Guterres warned of a world in chaos, identifying brazen violations of international law as a major challenge to global order.