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President Joe Biden on Tuesday made a forceful call for the world to stand up to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, calling for leaders to stand firm in their support of President Volodymyr Zelensky and his nation as the war heads toward its second autumn.<\/p>\n
Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin and his armed forces are betting that the world will grow weary of supporting Ukraine and it is incumbent upon the countries in the United Nations to stand firm against Putin\u2019s aggression.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? I respectfully suggest the answer is no. We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why the United States, together with our allies and partners around the world, will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The annual UN talks are unfolding for the second year under the shadow of the war in Ukraine, and the conflict will remain a focus for leaders. While the UN has led on organizing humanitarian aid during the conflict, it hasn\u2019t acted as a mediator in the war. Biden is set to meet with Zelensky \u2013 who was in the audience for Biden\u2019s speech on Tuesday \u2013 in Washington later this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the second year in a row, this gathering \u2013 dedicated to peaceful resolution of conflicts \u2013 is darkened by the shadow of war. An illegal war of conquest brought without provocation against its neighbor Ukraine,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cRussia alone bears responsibility for this war. Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately. And it\u2019s Russia alone that stands in the way of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later Tuesday, in remarks to the United Nations Leaders\u2019 Reception at the New York\u2019s Metropolitan Museum of Art, he told other world leaders: \u201cOur world stands at an inflection point, and the decisions we make now are going to determine our future for decades to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president made reference to Russia, observing that the world stands poised at a moment where \u201cbasic principles like sovereignty, territorial integrity, universal human rights are being tested,\u201d and \u201ca member the United Nations Security Council has launched a brazen and brutal attack against the people of Ukraine \u2013 attacks that go against the very character of the United Nations.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his speech to the General Assembly, Biden also returned to an issue that he frequently turns to in his public remarks \u2013 the future of democracy in the world. The president has often cast the fundamental motivating issue of his presidency as democracy vs. autocracy. And one day after the president railed against his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, in a sharpened speech at a fundraiser warning that Trump was \u201cdetermined to destroy democracy,\u201d Biden pressed the importance of democratic institutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will defend democracy: our best tool to meet the challenges that we face around the world. We\u2019re working to show how democracy can deliver in ways that matter to people\u2019s lives,\u201d he said, pointing to global infrastructure partnerships and investments in low and middle income countries.<\/p>\n
The president frequently uses China as an example of that contrast. But at the UN, he sought to emphasize a more diplomatic tone regarding the American relationship with China, saying he wants competition and not conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be clear and consistent: We seek to responsibly manage the competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict. I\u2019ve said we are for de-risking, not decoupling on China,\u201d he said, warning that the US will \u201cpush back on aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, the nations of the \u201cglobal south\u201d are also demanding attention from leaders. Many have watched with skepticism as the West rallies attention and funding for Ukraine while their crises go unnoticed.<\/p>\n
Biden will meet Wednesday with Brazil\u2019s President Lula da Silva to discuss labor issues and Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom Biden has clashed on the country\u2019s controversial judicial reform plan.<\/p>\n
Biden and Netanyahu, the senior official said, will \u201cdiscuss a range of bilateral and regional issues focused on the shared democratic values between our two countries and a vision for a more stable and prosperous and integrated region, as well as compare notes on effectively countering and deterring Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
But with high-level absences from Russia, China, France, and the UK \u2013 all permanent members of the UN Security Council \u2013 the Biden administration will be relegated to lower-level engagements with key allies and adversaries, all while hoping to elevate the United States\u2019 views of global infrastructure, food security, democratic values, and territorial sovereignty.<\/p>\n
Reiterating his belief that the world is at an \u201cinflection point in history,\u201d Biden told the assembly, \u201cAs president of the United States, I understand the duty my country has to lead this critical moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden heralded his administration\u2019s efforts toward fighting the climate crisis, including investment toward clean energy, climate financing in developing countries, and steps toward the climate finance pledge outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement, though he called for additional public and private sector investment.<\/p>\n
As the US seeks to counter the authoritarian pull of Russia and China, Biden is joining the presidents of five Central Asian nations \u2013 Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan \u2013 for the \u201cfirst-ever so-called C5+1 presidential summit\u201d on Tuesday, the first senior official said, for a discussion on regional security, trade and connectivity, climate, and reforms to improve governance and the rule of law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people, because we know our future is bound to yours. \u2026 And no nation can meet the challenges of today alone,\u201d Biden said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
A major challenge for the Biden administration\u2019s ability to generate attention and headlines for its foreign policy goals: Forum fatigue, with the G20 meeting of world leaders, BRICs summit of developing countries, APEC gathering focused on Indo-Pacific policy, and the climate-focused COP28 conversation all happening in an unusually condensed calendar, taking some of the urgency away from the conversation happening in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always been a sense that when you can\u2019t get what you want from the UN, you go somewhere else,\u201d said Marti Flacks, director of the Human Rights Initiative at the Council on Strategic and International Studies. \u201cThere\u2019s more of them being led by US competitors, particularly China. And so there\u2019s a sense that they are growing in strength.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Biden stressed the importance of the body in facing new challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also recognize that to meet new challenges of our decades-old institutions and approaches, they must be updated to keep pace with the world. We have to bring in more leadership and capability that exists everywhere, especially from regions that have not always been fully included. \u2026 We have to make sure we\u2019re delivering for people everywhere. \u2026 That starts with the United Nations \u2013 starts right here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There are areas where the administration acknowledges progress will remain elusive. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said he\u2019s not optimistic UN leadership and partner countries can make progress reinstating the Black Sea grain initiative, despite UN Secretary General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres holding meetings on it with Zelensky and other partners New York this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know the Turks are working hard at this; Guterres is working hard at this,\u201d Sullivan told reporters. \u201cBut the Russians are not giving us a huge amount of cause for optimism at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The issue raises the broader question of UN efficacy, with Russia remaining a member of the United Nations Security Council, despite multiple demands from the council to end the war in Ukraine. Thomas-Greenfield said the US is working closely with Ukrainians to document war crimes and atrocities for \u201cfuture prosecution\u201d \u2013 but it remains unclear when any such tribunal would take place.<\/p>\n
In addition to strengthening institutions, Biden called on the UN to \u201cforge new partnerships, and confront new challenges on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence,\u201d which, he said, offers \u201cboth enormous potential and enormous peril.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to be able to break the gridlock that too often stymies progress and blocks consensus on the council. We need more voices, more perspectives at the table. The United Nations must continue to preserve peace, prevent conflict, and alleviate human suffering. And we embrace nations stepping up to lead new ways to seek new breakthroughs on hard issues,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
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