Biden criticizes Russian aggression at the UN where all eyes are on Zelensky All eyes were on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, where his American counterpart Joe Biden called on all countries to “rise up against Russian aggression.”
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“Russia believes the world will get tired and let it brutalize Ukraine without consequences,” Joe Biden said.
“If we allow Ukraine to be dismembered, is the independence of nations still guaranteed? The answer is no,” she insisted, to the applause of the Ukrainian president and the audience present.
A year ago, Volodymyr Zelensky received exceptional permission to speak by video message.
This time he is there in person, for this annual mass at which he will speak in the middle of the day on Tuesday, before participating in a special meeting of the Security Council on Wednesday and leaving for Washington, where he will be received at the White House THURSDAY.
“It is very important for us that our words, all our messages, are heard by our partners,” he said Monday while meeting with Ukrainian soldiers wounded on the front lines at a New York hospital.
“Ukraine will present a concrete proposal to UN Member States on how to strengthen the principle of territorial integrity and improve the UN’s ability to thwart and stop aggression,” he said on X (formerly Twitter).
“Dialogue”
Since the Russian invasion, an overwhelming majority of countries have adopted several resolutions in the UN General Assembly supporting Ukraine and its territorial integrity or calling for Russia’s withdrawal.
But after a year and a half of war with cascading impacts on the world, particularly on food security, certain countries in the South are advocating for a diplomatic solution.
“We will intensify our efforts to end the war through diplomacy and dialogue, on the basis of the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said from the podium, underlining that “the war “it will have no victors and peace will have no winners.” losers.”
In Ukraine, “no solution will be lasting if it is not based on dialogue,” insisted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will meet on Wednesday with Volodymyr Zelensky.
“A lot has been invested in weapons and very little in development,” he lamented.
Unlike several Western powers, Brazil has never imposed financial sanctions on Russia or agreed to supply weapons to kyiv, and the country is trying to position itself, like China, as a mediator.
“I am aware that for some leaders it is important to find a peaceful solution,” European Council President Charles Michel said on Monday. But “for this peace to be lasting, it must respect the principles” of the UN, he insisted.
“A world upside down”
In these discours d’ouverture, the general secretary of the UN Antonio Guterres a peint un très sombre tableau d’un “monde sans dessus dessous”, où les tensions géopolitiques “s’aggravent” et le réchauffement climatique “compromet le plus directement our future”.
A symbol of this “compilation” of crises, the Derna floods in Libya, “sad snapshot of the state of our world, swept away by the torrent of inequalities and injustices, and paralyzed by the challenges that must be faced,” he stated. he said and lamented.
The thousands of people who lost their lives were victims of various scourges. Victims of years of conflict. Victims of climate chaos. Victims of leaders who, there and elsewhere, have not been able to find the path to peace.”
As a prelude to Monday’s General Assembly, developing countries reminded the rest of the world of their promises to improve the lot of humanity by 2030, insisting in particular on a reform of the international financial architecture.
A request reiterated by Antonio Guterres, who sees it as a reason for the fragmentation of the world.
“Today we see that new fissures are opening in the world. “Imperialism shows its disgusting face,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz commented on Monday.
Apart from the United States, no other permanent member of the Security Council (France, United Kingdom, China, Russia) is represented at the highest level during this annual mass. Absences that some diplomats see as a bad sign for the UN.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi will be on the podium on Tuesday, as his country and the United States have just carried out a rare prisoner exchange, within the framework of an agreement that includes the transfer of $6 billion of frozen funds to Tehran.
