Biden urges global leaders to support Ukraine during UN General Assembly speech

At the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden urged world leaders to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian invaders in the hopes that Republicans in Congress would also pay attention.

“Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence,” Biden said in his speech to UNGA.

“If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?”

When Biden said that the United States and its friends would support Ukraine’s fight for freedom, the audience applauded.

“Russia alone bears responsibility for this war. Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately,” the US president said.

The highlight of Biden’s three-day trip to New York was his speech at the gathering, which was also the setting for discussions with the presidents of Israel, Brazil, and five countries in Central Asia.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has called mobilising allies of the US to help Ukraine as a key part of US foreign policy, claiming that the world needs to make it clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the West will not be able to survive him.

Republicans who want the United States to spend less money on the military effort have criticised Biden.

Former President Donald Trump, who is currently in the lead for the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election, has stated that if he were to be elected again, he would work to end the war quickly.

Trump has praised Putin while expressing doubt about Washington’s relationship with longstanding allies like NATO.

Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House of Representatives and the top Republican in Washington, has questioned whether the United States should continue to provide Ukraine billions of dollars’ worth of weapons.

In his speech, Biden claimed that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and takeover of the country’s territory violated the founding U.N. Charter, which places a strong emphasis on respecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In his inaugural address to the UNGA on Tuesday, Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, warned that Russia’s invasion “has unleashed a nexus of horror.” His comments were repeated by Guterres.

The focus at the U.N. sessions, according to a Biden administration official, would also be on mobilising resources for infrastructure, sustainable development and fighting climate change.

Prior to his own speech at the UNGA on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attended and applauded Biden’s words. Zelenskiy was scheduled to see Biden at the White House on Thursday and meet with some congressional leaders as well.

To coincide with Zelenskiy’s visit, the United States is putting together a new military aid package for Ukraine, and Congress has been requested to authorise additional security funding totaling billions of dollars for the remainder of the year.

“We have confidence that there will be bipartisan support for this. I think President Zelenskiy does as well,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.

Biden and Guterres were scheduled to meet after Biden’s address to discuss current world events.

He will later take part in a historic conference of the leaders of five Central Asian countries. They are Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan.

Biden will visit Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday and participate in a gathering with Brazilian and American labour leaders.

Also on Wednesday, Biden will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since Netanyahu retook office in December.

It was stated by Sullivan that they would talk about “a vision for a more stable, prosperous, and integrated region, as well as to compare notes on effectively countering and deterring Iran.”

(With agency inputs)