Biden before the UN General Assembly: The US must lead in critical moments, but no nation can do it alone

(Patria) - US President Joe Biden addressed the UN General Assembly, which began its session today in New York.

"I understand that it is my country's duty to lead in critical moments," Biden said at the beginning of his speech, adding that the US seeks a safer, more prosperous, and more just world for all people.

Biden also said that the future of the US is tied to that of the rest of the world and that "no nation can meet today's challenges alone".

During his address, Biden stated that the UN assembly this week is "overshadowed by the shadow of war," which he describes as an "illegal war of conquest with open provocations by Russia" against Ukraine.

"No nation wants the war to end more than Ukraine," he said, reiterating US support for Kyiv and its efforts to achieve "a diplomatic solution for a just and lasting peace".

He says that Russia alone bears responsibility for the war in Ukraine and that it alone has the power to end the war immediately.

"Only Russia stands in the way of peace because Russia's price for peace is the capitulation of Ukraine, of Ukrainian territory. Russia will tire, and we must not allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequences," Biden stated, continuing:

"Russia believes that the world will tire and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequences. But I ask you this: if we abandon the fundamental principles of the UN Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state be sure that it is protected? If we allow Ukraine to be torn apart, is the independence of any nation safe?", Biden asked.

Biden also spoke at the UN about artificial intelligence, emphasizing that it is essential for it to be "safe" and that governments should manage this technology, not the other way around.

"We must ensure that we use these tools as an opportunity, not as a weapon of oppression," Biden said.

The US President also believes that climate change should be treated as an "existential threat." Listing numerous recent natural disasters – heatwaves in the US and China, wildfires in the US and Europe, drought in Africa, and floods in Libya – Biden says that all of this points to what awaits the world if dependence on fossil fuels is not reduced. "From day one of my administration, the United States has treated this crisis as an existential threat, not only to us but to all of humanity," Biden said.