Biden blasts Russia in a speech, saying the country is acting against U.N. principles and signaling it’s is no longer in the community of nations.
President Biden harshly rebuked Russia for its invasion of Ukraine before world leaders Wednesday, telling the United Nations General Assembly that Russia had put itself outside the community of law-abiding nations and arguing that Moscow had “shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations charter.”
“Let us speak plainly: A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council invaded its neighbor, attempted to erase a sovereign state from the map,” Biden said. “This war is about extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state, plain and simple, and Ukraine’s right to exist as a people. Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you believe, that should make your blood run cold.”
Biden added, “If nations can pursue their imperial ambitions without consequences, now we put at risk everything.”
Biden’s comments amounted to an unusually blunt condemnation of a prominent U.N. member at the first in-person meeting of the General Assembly in three years, as dozens of heads of state looked on. Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with Chinese President Xi Jinping, stayed away from the gathering.
The U.N. meeting is unfolding this week against a backdrop of intensifying crisis in Ukraine, as Putin on Wednesday ordered a partial military mobilization to call up as many as 300,000 reservists, endorsed stage-managed referendums as an apparent precursor to annexing parts of Ukraine, and hinted ominously that he is prepared use nuclear weapons in the region.
“In the face of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal,” Putin warned. “This is not a bluff.” The comment was widely seen as a thinly veiled reference to Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
Biden directly addressed the threat in his speech and called on other countries to stand firm against Russia’s actions, warning that failure to condemn Moscow for violating the U.N. charter would pose a threat to global security. The U.N. charter was adopted at the organization’s founding as an effort to maintain world stability after the devastation of World War II.
“This world should see these outrageous acts for what they are,” Biden said. “Putin claims he had to act because Russia was threatened, but no one threatened Russia, and no one other than Russia sought conflict.”
Biden also called for far-reaching, if vague, changes to the U.N. Security Council. The council has five permanent members with veto power — the United States, China, Britain, France and Russia — and 10 that are elected to two-year terms on a rotating basis.
While Biden stopped short of calling for Russia’s expulsion from the Security Council, he laid out the numerous ways the country had violated the U.N. charter — particularly by attempting to seize a nation’s territory by force. He also called for an increase in both permanent and nonpermanent members of the council, which could have the effect of diluting Russia’s power.
Biden also said council members should refrain from use of the veto “except in rare, extraordinary situations, to ensure that the council remains credible and effective.” Russia is the most frequent user of the veto — in February, it vetoed a resolution calling for its forces to withdraw from Ukraine — but critics say the United States has repeatedly used the veto itself to shield Israel from criticism.
Developing countries have long advocated for reforms to the Security Council, which critics portray as an outdated relic of the mid-20th-century global landscape. For example, they say, it’s not clear why France should be a permanent member but India should not.
