Biden speaks out at UN in incisive tone against renewed Russian threat

US President Joe Biden renewed the accusations against Russia in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday (21).

The American said that Moscow broke the principles of the United Nations Charter, the entity’s founding document. And, although he did not go so far as to ask for the country’s expulsion from the Security Council – the most powerful collegiate of the multilateral body -, he said that Russia disrespects one of the fundamental topics of the letter, which prevents member countries from threatening or using force against the territorial integrity or political independence of other nations.

The Ukrainian War, referred to by Biden, gained a new escalation with the announcement made by Vladimir Putin this Wednesday. For the first time, the Russian president ordered the mobilization of up to 300,000 reservists for the conflict and returned to threaten adversaries with a nuclear war.

It is worth remembering that, despite the tone used by Biden in the speech, the West for eight years saw Crimea, otherwise a historically Russian region, being absorbed without much more than sanctions and protests. In addition, the US itself defied UN precepts by invading Iraq in 2003, in an action seen by the then secretary general of the body, Kofi Annan, as illegal.

In addition to Wednesday’s announcement, which sparked global reactions, Russia is holding referendums at the end of the week for captured regions in eastern and southern Ukraine to decide whether they want to become part of Russian territory. The annexations would make it possible to put Russian nuclear doctrine into practice, as attacks on these areas would be against the nation in the Kremlin’s legal understanding.

The speech was a wake-up call to NATO allies, and in particular to the US, whose administration has already disbursed more than $15 billion in military aid to Ukraine — on Sunday, Biden had warned the Russian not to use the bomb, hinting at a proportionate reaction. .

Unlike most world leaders, Putin did not go to New York. In his place, he sent Chancellor Sergei Lavrov, who, subject to sanctions by the White House, did not know until the last minute if he would be able to travel. The irony is that it was this same UN that gave Lavrov prestige, since, before becoming the leader of Moscow’s diplomacy, he was ambassador to the entity for ten years and was known for his good relationship with other authorities.

The Democrat made his pulpit debut at the United Nations last year. At the time, he stated that his country was not looking for a new Cold War or a “world divided into rigid blocks”. But he delivered a series of messages to China, saying the US would oppose “attempts by stronger countries to dominate weaker ones”.

By tradition, the American president is always the second head of state to speak at the event – ​​his speech should have taken place the day before, after the pronouncement of Jair Bolsonaro. The Democrat postponed the speech to the second day of the General Assembly as a result of his trip to London for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

The leader’s agenda for the day also includes a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation, but without an equivalent with the Russian group, according to the American ambassador to the UN to the local press.

In addition, Biden is expected to have his first face-to-face meeting with British Prime Minister Liz Truss. The agenda promises to include the so-called Northern Ireland protocol, which seeks to soften the effects of Brexit on the two Irelands, as the northeastern part of the island left the bloc along with the British, while the southern part, the Republic of Ireland, continues on the European market.