Macron uses final UN speech to press action on Gaza and Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron used what is expected to be his final address to the United Nations General Assembly as president on Tuesday to challenge international inaction across several ongoing conflicts, urging world leaders to choose the United Nations over a return to the "law of the jungle." Speaking before world leaders gathered in New York, Macron framed the moment as a choice between a state of nature and a civilized international society, and called on member states to hold firm within the UN. "I will not yield to fatalism, and I cannot accept the new order of impunity that is taking hold," Macron said, according to remarks quoted from the address. On Ukraine, Macron called on Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a double moratorium on strikes against energy and civilian infrastructure, describing the destruction of civilian targets and human rights violations as a new era of barbaric acts. It was not immediately clear whether either side had responded to the proposal. Macron devoted significant attention to Gaza, questioning the credibility of the international community amid restricted humanitarian access.