The United Nations General Assembly traditionally opened next year's work with a summit, at a distance, on Tuesday.

The corona pandemic has forced the world's heads of state and government to send in their speeches, often pre-recorded, to the UN headquarters in New York, which is usually a tumultuous place of meetings, demonstrations and unexpected whims during the week of September.

However, the meeting began with a strong warning from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who was present.

- We must do everything we can to avoid a new cold war.

- We are moving in a dangerous direction.

Our world cannot afford a future where the two largest economies divide the earth with a large rift, Guterres continued in a sharply targeted attack on the United States and China without mentioning them by name.

China virus according to Trump

In his speech from the capital Washington, US President Donald Trump chose to point out China as responsible for the corona pandemic, which he once again called the China virus.

He said China must be held accountable.

In a short speech, Trump then chose to highlight American success, referring to US voters ahead of November's presidential election rather than to colleagues around the world.

Xi wants to avoid war

Trump, barely half an hour later, received hardly any response to speeches as even Chinese leader Xi Jinping's speech was pre-recorded.

In front of a mural of the Great Wall of China, Xi said the world must work together to meet current and future challenges.

Xi then said that China does not intend to fight "a cold or hot war".

On the spot in the UN General Assembly, however, China's UN ambassador, in presenting his leader's speech, could reject US accusations of coronavirus from the United States.

More corona voices

Russian President Vladimir Putin also set a political tone for the spread of the corona pandemic.

In his inaugural speech, Putin said he was offering all UN staffers free access to the vaccine that Russia has been researching - but which is causing international skepticism.

Putin then countered by demanding that "illegitimate sanctions" be abolished in order to start world trade.