Despite rising tensions and intensifying conflicts in a period of global unrest, this is not the time to give up on seeking peace and stability, Malta told the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

“It is in the crucible of such challenges that our resolve must be strengthened,” Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg told the council hours after news broke that Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes in Iran.

“These testing times, while difficult, should not breed despair nor resign us to inaction.”

Borg was speaking at the UN headquarters in New York City as chair-in-office of the world’s largest regional security body – the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The meeting was held at the UN headquarters in New York City. Photo: UN Photo/Manuel Elías

Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and the rising tensions in the Middle East, Malta found itself at the centre of global peacekeeping efforts, as it currently not only chairs the OSCE but is also the president of the UN’s most powerful and influential body.

Borg, together with Maltese Permanent Representative to the UN Vanessa Frazier and other Maltese diplomats, have been in talks with the world’s major players, urging the countries at war and their allies to refrain from retaliation and to sit at the negotiating table.

But efforts are hardly resulting in any meaningful peace, with the US on Thursday shooting down a bid for the Palestinian state to join the UN and with Israel, hours later, keeping its word on retaliating to last weekend’s missile attack from Iran, despite Malta and the UN having urged the countries to refrain from attacks before the war spirals out of control.

The UN separately passed a resolution for a “lasting sustainable ceasefire” last month – a resolution that is binding on all member states – but the nations at war seemed to ignore it, bringing into question the effectiveness of the UN’s binding decisions.

Borg addressed the issue in his speech to the UN Security Council on Friday, saying the international rules-based order designed to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war was being rigorously tested in these unprecedented times.

“These multilateral frameworks established not only to prevent the outbreak of conflict but also to nurture a lasting peace, are now facing an erosion of their effectiveness, as they strive to meet the complex demands of our world,” he said.

“Malta’s approach is fundamentally driven by the goal of enhancing stability and building – or I should rather say rebuilding – trust within the international system.”

He said that “with a profound sense of humility and responsibility” at this “pivotal moment”, Malta will continue to ensure the OSCE works to restore peace and security in the region.

He reiterated that Malta “will keep Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine at the top of the agenda” and that the ongoing attacks must stop and the war must come to an end.