Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, appealed for calm on Thursday, the day after John Bolton, the US ambassador, had lashed out at Mark Malloch Brown, the UN’s number two, for calling for greater US engagement with the world body.

“Let’s put it behind us and move on,” he said. “There may be one or two things in the speech that you may disagree with, that I would disagree with, but I think the thrust of the message and the fact that the UN needs support is something we cannot all disagree with.”