President Joe Biden on Tuesday issued a defense of American leadership abroad and reiterated US support for Ukraine during a high-profile speech at the United Nations, as the 2024 presidential election at home approaches.
In particular, Biden reiterated US support for revamping the way the World Bank and other multilateral development banks work with low- and middle-income countries. The push is an implicit counterweight to China’s long-standing investment in developing countries around the world.
“America seeks a safer, more prosperous, and more equitable world for all people, because we know our future is tied to yours,” Biden said in his remarks emphasizing global unity. “Let me say it again. We know that our future is linked to yours. And no nation can meet today’s challenges alone.”
The president’s speech Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly also addressed climate change, artificial intelligence, expanding the United Nations Security Council, investing in the “Global South” and more.
“We meet once again at a turning point in world history,” Biden said. “I understand the duty that my country has at this critical moment.”
“As president of the United States, I understand my country’s duty to lead at this critical moment, to work with countries in all regions linking them in a common cause, to unite with partners who share a common vision for the future of the world. , where our children do not go hungry and everyone has access to quality healthcare, where workers are empowered and our environment is protected, where entrepreneurs and innovators around the world can access opportunities everywhere, where conflicts are resolved peacefully and countries can chart their own course.”
Biden closed his speech by addressing Ukraine and attacking Russia, which he claims is to blame for an “illegal war of conquest carried out without provocation.”
“No nation wants this war to end more than Ukraine,” the president said. “We strongly support Ukraine in its efforts to achieve a diplomatic resolution that will provide a just and lasting peace. Russia alone bears responsibility for this war.”
Biden said sovereignty and territorial integrity are fundamental to the United Nations Charter and framed continued support for Ukraine as an investment in protecting those principles for all countries.
“If we allow Ukraine to be divided, is any nation’s independence secure?” -Biden asked. “I respectfully suggest that the answer is no. We must confront this overt aggression today and deter other potential aggressors tomorrow.”
“That is why the United States, along with our allies and partners around the world, will continue to support the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their freedom,” he continued, drawing applause from the audience. .
Biden’s presence on the world stage comes a week after he returned from a trip to India and Vietnam, where he pushed for development bank reform at a meeting of “Group of 20” leaders in New Delhi, India. , and in Hanoi, Vietnam, agreed to significantly improve relations between the United States and Vietnam.
He also reaches the White House and the Biden campaign seeks to present him as a global leader who provides results for American leaders, working hard, in contrast, they say, with former President Donald Trump, the favorite in the Republican elections. primary presidential election. He will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Thursday, as the pair press Congress to approve $24 billion more in funding for Kiev over the objections of some House Republicans.
While in New York, Biden will also meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, according to the White House.
The officials declined to share more information about the long-delayed meeting with Netanyahu or explain why it is being held on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly meeting rather than at the White House. Netanyahu returned to power late last year and it has taken nearly nine months for Biden to schedule a meeting with him.
Israeli prime ministers typically meet with their American counterparts much more quickly; Biden, however, has called Netanyahu’s government the most extreme in decades and has been measuredly critical of the Israeli prime minister’s handling of Israel’s historic pro-democracy protests.
In New York, administration officials said, Biden will also meet on Tuesday with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres as well as five Central Asian leaders: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. And on Wednesday, Biden will also meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the 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 UN, the World Bank and elsewhere; and we have initiatives to achieve results in infrastructure, health, climate and other global public goods.”