The problem of cooperation: Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky in the rostrum of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday
Russia and Ukraine were barely mentioned in his speech, but they were still a problem as one of the Security Council members was excoriated from the rostrum. Mr. Biden complained that Mr. Putin had been “shredding longstanding arms control agreements,” while Mr. Zelensky noted that his country had given up its nuclear weapons in exchange for a promise by Russia to respect its independence, a promise now violently broken.
President Biden warned against appeasing Moscow in a way that will reward it’s aggression, as he exhorted the world on Tuesday to stick with Ukraine.
The president used his annual address to the United Nations General Assembly to try to counter war fatigue both at home and abroad even as House Republicans back in Washington hold up further military aid to Ukraine and nations around the globe remain on the sidelines or even facilitate the Kremlin’s war.
He called the dealings behind the scenes “shady” and called out attempts to broker a peace deal without Ukraine’s involvement. He called Russia an unreliable partner because of the recent death of the mercenary leader who had rebelled against Mr. Putin. Mr. Zelensky said that bad people cannot be trusted. “Ask Prigozhin if one bets on Putin’s promises.”
The delegations in the room gave applause to both Mr. Biden and Mr. Zelensky but many of them sat on their hands. Russia’s envoy to the UN sat in Russia’s seat for the opening ceremony, despite Mr. Putin being the target of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court.
Mr. Zelensky was to address the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday with a plan to discourage war even after the fighting in his country eventually ends and then will head to Washington, where on Thursday he will meet with Mr. Biden at the White House, stop by the Pentagon and visit Capitol Hill to plead for continuing assistance.
Unlike his first wartime trip to Washington last winter, he will not address a joint meeting of Congress and will find more resistance among some far-right Republicans in the House who are trying to block Mr. Biden’s request for $24 billion more aid. Critics believe that the war isn’t relevant to America’s national interests and that the money should be spent on border security or other priorities.
Mr. Biden and the Defense Secretary have continued to provide aid by using previously approved funds. He said after a meeting of about 50 countries supporting Ukraine that it will add another formidable armor capability. He added that we have their backs. Ukraine’s fight is one of the one of the great causes of our time.”
The opening session of the General Assembly was skipped by Russian and Chinese leaders, meaning that the American president had to speak. The opportunity to reach out to the so-called global south was used by him to put America’s belief in the threats posed by Russia and China at the forefront of their minds.
While he took an unrelenting stance against Russia’s brutal war and warned against appeasing Moscow, he drew a more measured line on China, repeating his commitment to “push back on aggression and intimidation” by Beijing while seeking ways to work together and denying that he was trying to contain the Asian giant. “We seek to responsibly manage the competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict,” he said.
Mr. Biden mentioned a litany of other major issues confronting the world today, like fentanyl abuse, artificial intelligence, terrorism, human rights, women’s rights, L.G.B.T. rights and arms control, without breaking much new ground on any of them. He stressed the dangers of climate change as he urged more action to combat it, citing heat waves, wildfires, drought and the flooding in Libya.
The snapshots show an urgent story of what awaits us if we don’t reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Under his administration, he said, “the United States has treated this crisis as the existential threat from the moment we took office, not only for us, but for all of humanity.”
Visiting the United States with Markarian Zelensky: A Brief History of American Warfare and a Promise for a New War
Mr. Biden plans to use his time in the United Nations this week to meet with other world leaders. In the first instance, a president has sat down with counterparts from other Central Asian republics, he met the leaders of the five former soviet union republics on Tuesday.
His meeting with Mr. Netanyahu will be their first in the United States since Mr. Biden became president, a much-delayed get-together that, tellingly, will not take place at the White House amid tension over Mr. Biden’s outreach to Iran and the Israeli leader’s efforts to diminish the power of courts in his country. In his speech on Tuesday, Mr. Biden touted his efforts to open diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia while emphasizing his support for a two-state solution to Israel’s conflict with Palestinians.
He said that each decade Russia begins a new war, noting the invasions and military interventions in Georgia and Syria as well as its pressure on other republics.
“War crimes must be punished, deported people must come home and the occupier must return to their own land,” Mr. Zelensky said before finishing with the historical national saying that has become a defiant mantra since the war began: “Slava Ukraini,” or “Glory to Ukraine.”
Speaker Kevin McCarthy responded sharply when asked about America’s commitment to Ukraine. “Is Zelensky elected to Congress? Is he our president? I don’t think I need to do anything. He told reporters on Capitol Hill that he had questions for him.
“Where’s the accountability on the money we’ve already spent?” he added. “What is the plan for victory? I think that’s what the American public wants to know.”
Zelenskyy and the United Nations: The Trouble After the First Year of the Second World Bank–Mean-Field War
Zelenskyy spoke to Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep in New York on Wednesday, ahead of his participation in a special meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
In the course of one year, the U.S. gave Ukraine more than $112 billion. But the topic has grown increasingly divisive in the second year of the war.
Republican lawmakers and voters think that support should end. An August CNN poll found a majority of Americans say Congress should not authorize more funding for Ukraine, with divisions along party lines.
Last month, President Biden asked Congress to approve an additional $24 billion in aid, money now stuck in limbo as the government works to avoid a shutdown by the end of the month.
He addressed Congress at a special joint session in December 2022, his first visit to the U.S. since the war broke out. He delivered an angry plea through video in March when Russia launched it’s invasion.