UN chief states vision for second term

UNITED NATIONS -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has declared his intention to run for a second term, expressing a strong belief in nations working together to solve the world's crises and conflicts.

Guterres, who is running for a second term, took questions from member states in the General Assembly Hall on Friday.

He urged the world's nations to avoid a new type of Cold War, and stressed that everything from the climate crisis to nuclear proliferation and the pushback on human rights is inter-linked in the 21st century.

Multilateralism "depends a lot on the establishment of trust among member states, and on making functional relationship among the biggest powers," he said.

"If there is no trust among member states and if the relationship among the biggest powers remains dysfunctional, then there's not much the multilateral system can do," he added.

Guterres became the ninth secretary-general of the United Nations on Jan. 1, 2017, succeeding Ban Ki-moon.

Guterres served as High Commissioner of the UN Refugee Agency from June 2005 to December 2015 and prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002.