UNITED NATIONS – “There are more important things than staying in power,” President Joe Biden reminded world leaders on Tuesday in the United Nations General Assembly hall. During his final address to the UN as US president, Biden used his decision not to run for a second term to frame what he hopes will become his legacy on the global stage: a politician who fought for democracy to defeat autocracy.
He focused heavily on his administration’s support of Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, saying that the US and its allies had “ensured the survival of Ukraine as a free nation.” But he also acknowledged that Washington's leadership on Ukraine may end if Donald Trump is elected in November. In perhaps one of his last opportunities to gather global support, he asked the crowd, “Will we walk away and let a nation be destroyed?”
Later on Tuesday, the UN Security Council discussed the situation in Ukraine ahead of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to UNGA on Wednesday. In remarks before the Security Council, Zelensky excoriated Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and the tactics used throughout the war.
"Putin has broken so many international norms and rules that he won't stop on his own, Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed, forcing Russia into peace, as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter," Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian leader also criticized Iran and North Korea, referring to them as “de facto accomplices” in Russia’s “criminal war.” Western intelligence suggests that Tehran and Pyongyang have provided arms to Moscow.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was also at the Security Council meeting, echoed Zelensky’s criticism. "Support from Tehran and Pyongyang is helping Putin inflict carnage, suffering, and ruin on innocent Ukrainian men, women, children,” Blinken said.
On Thursday, Biden will meet with Zelensky to discuss Ukraine using American long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory — a step Biden has resisted, fearing it could cross a red line for Moscow and put the US in direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia.
Meanwhile, as tensions and airstrikes between Israel and Hezbollah threaten a wider escalation in the Middle East, Biden said that “a full-scale war is not in anyone’s interests” and that “a diplomatic solution is still possible.” But he made no hint that the US is considering lessening its support for Israel, reaffirming his belief that after an atrocity like Oct. 7, “any country would have a right and responsibility to ensure that an act like that never happens again.”
