Iran: 'American empire' nearing collapse

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Fact file: Ban Ki-Moon

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Bush also scolded Russia for invading neighboring Georgia, calling it a violation of the U.N. charter.

"The United Nations' charter sets forth the equal rights of nations large and small," he said. "Russia's invasion of Georgia was a violation of those words."

Bush's appearance was overshadowed by the U.S. financial markets crisis that has rippled through world markets. Trying to reassure world leaders that his administration is taking decisive action to stem market turmoil, Bush said he is confident that Congress will act in the "urgent timeframe required" to prevent broader problem. But he did not ask other nations to take any specific actions.

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a wholesale reform of the global financial system, urging major economic powers to meet before the end of the year to examine the lessons of the crisis.

"Let us rebuild capitalism in which credit agencies are controlled and punished when necessary, where transparency ... replaces opaqueness," Sarkozy said. "We can do this on one condition, that we all work together in our globalized world."

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also called for a global solution to the financial crisis and lashed out at speculators whom he blamed for the "anguish of entire peoples."

"The global nature of this crisis means that the solutions we adopt must also be global," Silva said.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon painted a grim picture of a world facing not only a financial crisis but food and energy crises as well as new outbreaks of war and violence.

"We must do more to help our fellow human beings weather the gathering storm," he told world leaders. "I see a danger of nations looking more inward, rather than toward a shared future. I see a danger of retreating from the progress we have made, particularly in the realm of development and more equitably sharing the fruits of global growth."

"We need to restore order to the international financial markets," he said. "We need a new understanding on business ethics and governance, with more compassion and less uncritical faith in the `magic' of markets. And we must think about how the world economic system should evolve to more fully reflect changing realities of our time."