President Joe Biden on Tuesday issued a defense of US leadership abroad and affirmed US support for Ukraine during a high-level speech at the United Nations — as the 2024 presidential election intensifies at home.
In particular, Biden emphasized US support for revamping how the World Bank and other multilateral development banks work with low- and middle-income countries. This push constitutes an implicit counterweight to China’s long-term investments in developing countries around the world.
In his statements, in which he stressed global unity, Biden said, “The United States seeks a safer, more prosperous, and more equitable world for all people, because we know that our future is linked to your future.” “Let me repeat that again. We know that our future is tied to your future. No country can meet today’s challenges alone.”
The president’s Tuesday speech to the UN General Assembly also addressed climate change, artificial intelligence, expanding the UN Security Council, investing in the “Global South” and more.
“We meet again at an inflection point in world history,” Biden said. “I understand my country’s duty at this critical moment.”
“As President of the United States, I understand my country’s duty to lead this critical moment, to work with countries in every region to connect them to a common cause, to join partners who share a common vision for the future of the world, where our children do not suffer from hunger, and where everyone has access to care.” “Good health, where workers are empowered and our environment protected, where entrepreneurs and innovators everywhere can access opportunities everywhere, where conflicts are resolved peacefully and countries can chart their own course.”
Biden concluded his speech by addressing Ukraine and attacking Russia, which he said was responsible for “an illegal war of invasion waged without provocation.”
“No country wants this war to end more than Ukraine,” the president said. He added: “We strongly support Ukraine in its efforts to reach a diplomatic solution that achieves a just and lasting peace. Russia alone bears responsibility for this war.”
Biden said that sovereignty and territorial integrity are fundamental to the UN Charter, and described continued support for Ukraine as an investment in protecting these principles for all countries.
“If we allow the partition of Ukraine, will the independence of any country be secure?” Biden asked. He added, “I respectfully suggest that the answer is no. We must confront this blatant aggression today and deter other potential aggressors tomorrow.”
He continued: “That is why the United States, along with our allies and partners around the world, will continue to stand with the courageous people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty, territorial integrity, and freedom,” sparking a wave of applause from the audience. .
Biden’s presence on the world stage comes one week after his return from a trip to India and Vietnam, where he pushed for reform of the Development Bank at a meeting of G20 leaders in New Delhi, India, and in Hanoi, Vietnam. To significantly improve US-Vietnamese relations.
It also comes to the White House, and the Biden campaign seeks to present him as a global leader who delivers results to American leaders – who work hard – in contrast, they say, to former President Donald Trump, the front-runner in the Republican Party. Presidential primary elections. He will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Thursday as the two men press Congress to approve $24 billion in additional funding for Kiev despite objections from some House Republicans.
While in New York on Wednesday, Biden will also meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the White House.
Officials declined to share more information about the long-awaited meeting with Netanyahu or explain why it was being held on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly meeting and not at the White House. Netanyahu returned to power late last year, and it apparently took Biden nearly nine months to schedule a meeting with him.
Israeli prime ministers often meet their American counterparts much more quickly; However, Biden described Netanyahu’s government as the most extreme in decades, and made measured criticism of the Israeli prime minister’s handling of historic pro-democracy protests in Israel.
In New York, administration officials said Tuesday that Biden will also meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as well as five Central Asian leaders — from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Biden will also meet on Wednesday with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, officials said.
“President Biden will go to this year’s General Assembly with the confidence of the United States,” one official said. “We have strong allies and new partners; we have a vision for institutional reform at the United Nations, at the World Bank and elsewhere; and we have initiatives to achieve infrastructure, health, climate, and other global public goods.”
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