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US President Donald Trump has said that he is continuing efforts to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump made the remarks while answering questions from journalists.

He said that he had resolved eight wars and noted that most of those conflicts had not been connected to him.

Referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump said that he was working toward a resolution but described it as the most complicated of the conflicts he had addressed.

The US president’s remarks come amid continued diplomatic efforts to find a way to end the fighting between Russia and Ukraine.

President of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) Mohammed Ben Sulayem has praised the unique atmosphere and distinctive features of the Baku City Circuit.

He expressed his satisfaction with his visit to Baku.

“The Baku City Circuit is a unique track and truly spectacular. Here, historical heritage and modern architecture complement each other. The track not only presents different and challenging tests for drivers, but also gives spectators the opportunity to enjoy an exciting race,” the FIA president said while attending the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

According to him, motorsport is not only about competition between drivers on the track. Formula 1 is also of great importance in terms of business, tourism and entertainment.

“Sport is no longer just about competition between drivers. It is a major business, tourism, competition and entertainment. Azerbaijan combines all of these. I congratulate Azerbaijan on maintaining and constantly developing this level,” Mohammed Ben Sulayem said.

The FIA president also touched on the future of Azerbaijan’s cooperation with Formula 1, positively assessing the country’s long-term approach in this area.

“I see that there are plans here aimed at the future. This is important not only for sport, but also for the country. Therefore, we have our full support,” Mohammed Ben Sulayem added.

Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) Sabina Aliyeva has issued a statement in connection with September 27 – Remembrance Day.

“Six years have passed since the Patriotic War, which began on September 27, 2020. That day marked an important turning point in the history of the Azerbaijani people, while also carrying particular significance in terms of eliminating the grave humanitarian consequences caused by the conflict, bringing those who committed war crimes resulting in human losses to justice, and restoring rights violated over many years.

As a result of the Patriotic War, a new stage began in restoring Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, as well as the fundamental rights of people who had been displaced from their native lands for many years.

During the war, harm to the lives and health of civilians and the destruction of residential areas and social infrastructure had serious humanitarian consequences. These events once again demonstrated that civilians bear the heaviest burden of armed conflicts and that the protection of civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law, as well as ensuring the right to life, must remain a constant priority.

During the Patriotic War, the shelling by the Armenian armed forces of settlements densely populated by Azerbaijan’s civilian population, particularly the cities and districts of Ganja, Barda, Naftalan, Tartar and others, with heavy artillery and long-range missile systems prohibited under international law, resulted in civilian deaths and injuries and caused serious damage to residential homes and social, educational, healthcare, religious and other civilian facilities. These facts were documented in reports prepared as a result of the fact-finding missions carried out by the Azerbaijani Ombudsman at the time.

An objective and comprehensive investigation into violations of international law concerning the targeting of civilians and civilian objects, as well as the identification and prosecution of those responsible in accordance with national legislation and international law, is of great importance. Preventing impunity for those responsible for such acts is essential for the protection of human rights and for preventing similar incidents from occurring in the future.

As the Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, I believe that restoring human rights violated as a result of war and conflict, determining the fate of missing persons, clearing territories contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance, as well as ensuring the safe and dignified return of former internally displaced persons to their native lands are among the main humanitarian priorities of the post-conflict period.

In this regard, large-scale reconstruction and development work in the territories liberated from occupation, the return of people to their native lands and the reliable protection of all their fundamental rights make an important contribution to strengthening peace and sustainable development.

The important results achieved in advancing the peace agenda and finalizing a peace agreement between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia are of particular significance for the future of the region as a whole. This process creates new opportunities for strengthening lasting and long-term peace, stability, security and mutual cooperation.

In this regard, preserving the opportunities for peace that have been achieved and turning them into lasting peace places an important responsibility on international organizations and the global community, states, national human rights institutions and civil society.

September 27 is remembered not only as the day large-scale counteroffensive operations began, bringing an end to the policy of aggression, occupation and provocation pursued against our republic and people for many years, but also as a day that demonstrated the strength of our state, our army, which achieved victory under the leadership of the President of the Republic and Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, and our people, who demonstrated true patriotism even during the most difficult days.

I respectfully commemorate the cherished memory of our compatriots who attained martyrdom for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our Motherland, extend my condolences to their families, and wish good health and prosperity to war veterans and all people affected by the war.

I believe that the greatest tribute to the memory of our martyrs is to ensure that future generations live free from war and violence, in conditions of peace, security and prosperity. I wish that the moral legacy and memory left to us after Remembrance Day, written into our history with painful yet honorable memories, will bring peace and tranquility to our country and people, firm and lasting peace to our region, a life free from war and insecurity, and progressive development.”

The memory of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity was honored with a one-minute silence in Kalbajar city at 12:00 on September 27, Remembrance Day.

Participants gathered in the central square of Kalbajar city to pay deep tribute to the memory of the martyrs.

At 12:00, traffic and pedestrian movement across the district was suspended. Drivers sounded their horns, and a one-minute silence was observed in memory of the martyrs.

The ceremony was attended by members of the Kalbajar district community, intellectuals from the district, employees of the Kalbajar District Restoration, Construction and Management Service, law enforcement officers operating in the district, families of martyrs and local residents.

Slovakia has expressed its respect and solidarity with Azerbaijan on Remembrance Day, honouring those who lost their lives defending the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Slovak Ambassador to Azerbaijan Elcin Gasymov shared the message on social media on September 27, marking Remembrance Day in Azerbaijan.

‘Today, on #RemembranceDay, we honour the memory of all those who gave their lives for [Azerbaijan’s] territorial integrity and sovereignty,’ Gasymov wrote.

He added that Slovakia ‘expresses deep respect for their sacrifice and solidarity with the people of Azerbaijan’.

The ambassador accompanied his message with the flags of Slovakia and Azerbaijan and tagged the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

September 27 is observed annually in Azerbaijan as Remembrance Day to honour servicemen and civilians who lost their lives in the country’s wars and conflicts, particularly those who died during the 44-day Second Karabakh War in 2020.

Gasymov has served as Slovakia’s ambassador to Azerbaijan since August 2025. Slovakia and Azerbaijan have also been expanding bilateral cooperation, including in energy, investment and economic projects.

In recent months, Ambassador Gasymov has highlighted Slovakia’s interest in projects in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, including cooperation in agriculture and a planned Park Forest project in Aghdam.

The ambassador’s Remembrance Day message comes as Azerbaijan and Slovakia continue to deepen bilateral ties, with energy cooperation, including potential Azerbaijani gas supplies to Slovakia, remaining an important area of the relationship.

While the world keeps its eyes on wars, tariffs, and oil prices, a story is quietly unfolding in the corridors of the UN headquarters in New York, one that will largely shape the face of the organization for the decade to come. On December 31, 2026, António Guterres steps down as Secretary-General after serving two terms, and as early as January 1, 2027, his seat will be taken by the tenth head of the UN. Seven candidates are officially in the race, four of them women. Whoever ends up the winner, difficult tasks await, because the significance, the influence, and the financial capacity of the UN are all under ever closer scrutiny from the global public.

According to the UN Charter, the Secretary-General is “equal parts diplomat and advocate, civil servant and CEO.” The person holding this post oversees several key UN bodies, among them the Security Council, which carries the responsibility of maintaining peace and security across the planet. The new Secretary-General will be elected by the UN General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council, whose permanent members are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. That is why the pool of potential contenders is limited, and the process itself promises to be complicated and strewn with obstacles.

Seven candidates are officially in the race, four of them women. They are Latin Americans and Africans with solid diplomatic credentials behind them. The former president of Senegal and ex-chairman of the African Union, Macky Sall. The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi of Argentina, a man used to putting out the hottest nuclear crises. The economist Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica, who currently leads the UN Conference on Trade and Development. The former president of the General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador, and her compatriot, the diplomat Ivonne A-Baki. Guyana’s permanent representative Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and the veteran of UN diplomacy from Uganda, Olara Otunnu. Until recently the list also included the former president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, but she was the first to drop out of the running, having received only a single vote of support last week.

The heated arguments are already beginning. Yet behind this outwardly orderly process lies a genuine battle of meanings. And the main dividing line runs along the fault of West versus Global South.

There are two unwritten rules at the UN that this time work against the established order. The first is the principle of regional rotation. By long tradition the post is meant to pass from region to region, and now, by common consensus, it is Latin America and the Caribbean’s turn. In the entire history of the UN there has been only one Secretary-General from there, the Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, and even he served back in the eighties. In 2016 this tradition was already broken once, when, contrary to expectations, the Portuguese Guterres was chosen rather than a representative of Eastern Europe, which has never yet led the organization. Skipping the regional queue a second time in a row will be far harder. As the International Crisis Group expert Richard Gowan aptly noted, if Latin America’s claim is disregarded again, it will come back to haunt everyone next time.

The second rule is even more sensitive. In eight decades the UN has never once been led by a woman. All nine previous Secretaries-General were men. In September 2025 a resolution appeared that directly calls on states to nominate women. And at the latest BRICS summit, which by now gathered 21 countries, the final communiqué sounded almost like a reproach aimed at the UN. It reminded everyone that a woman has never been elected to this post, that only one person came from Latin America and the Caribbean, and only two each from Africa and Asia.

The economic outlook is hardly encouraging either. Today there is stubborn inflation, which may be driven in large part by the surge in energy prices caused by the war in the Middle East as well as in Ukraine. This hits hardest those who already struggle with the high cost of living. Because of inflation, central banks are forced to raise rates at a time when debt levels are already very high. Under these conditions the UN has to operate in an even tougher situation. The Security Council can barely pass weighty decisions, and the withdrawal of the United States under the Trump administration has forced cuts to operations. Some institutions, such as the International Criminal Court, are under direct attack. The security architecture that was patiently built after the Second World War lies in ruins, and the chances of creating a new one are close to zero.

Between now and the end of the year, a candidate needs to gather at least nine votes out of fifteen, and at the same time none of the five permanent members may cast a veto. And that permanent five is the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France, among whom lately there has been no agreement. That is precisely why three rounds of secret balloting have still failed to reveal a clear favorite.

But whoever is chosen in the end, the inheritance handed to them will be a heavy one. The Security Council, in Guterres’s own words, is practically paralyzed by constant vetoes. The main donor, the United States, has slashed its funding, and hopes that the shortfall would be covered by China or Europe have so far come to nothing. What is more, experts admit that many states are, deep down, even glad that Trump is forcing a regime of austerity on the UN. The superpowers are no longer able to solve the world’s problems on their own.

There is one more paradox here. People, on the whole, believe in the UN more than its own leaders do. According to a GeoPoll survey for the UN Foundation, six people out of ten trust the organization on the things that truly matter to them. Yet at the same time 85 percent admitted that they had heard almost nothing about how the new Secretary-General is being chosen.

So what is at stake? At first glance, just a single post, largely ceremonial and, as they say, “remarkably powerless.” But behind the argument over the candidate hides a far more fundamental question. Who really sets the tone in the planet’s main international institution. The answer we will learn by the end of this year.

A tree-planting campaign dedicated to the cherished memory of Azerbaijani martyrs has been held in Nakhchivan, organized by the Nakhchivan City Executive Authority.

Participants first observed a minute of silence in memory of National Leader Heydar Aliyev and the martyrs.

Addressing the event, Nakhchivan City Executive Authority head Anar Babayev said that preserving the memory of those who sacrificed their lives for the Motherland and passing on their legacy of heroism to future generations is a moral duty for everyone.

He noted that events dedicated to the memory of martyrs contribute to preserving national memory and fostering patriotic values among the younger generation.

The participants emphasized that planting trees in memory of the martyrs is a meaningful initiative that combines national and moral values with a tradition of caring for nature. Such campaigns also contribute to expanding green areas in Nakhchivan, protecting the environment and maintaining ecological balance.

As part of the campaign, more than 100 trees of various forest species were planted in an area designated for landscaping. Existing trees were watered, measures were taken to protect and develop the greenery, and the newly planted trees received the necessary agrotechnical care. A modern drip irrigation system was also installed to water the trees.

Each tree planted in memory of the martyrs serves as a symbol of respect for future generations, life and national memory.

A number of events are being held in Nakhchivan in connection with September 27 – Remembrance Day to honor the memory of the martyrs, provide attention and support to their families and loved ones, and promote national and moral values.