US President Biden delivered a speech at the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York City, USA on September 19, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
President Joe Biden will strive to reconcile the diplomatic achievements and goals of his presidency with the grim realities of war middle East, Ukraine and Sudan Important speech at annual gathering on Tuesday United Nations General Assembly In New York, it was his last term as president.
With four months left in his term, the speech was one of Biden’s few opportunities to lay out his foreign policy legacy before global leaders.
His speech to the United Nations General Assembly will touch on what the government considers to be its most important achievements. This includes support for Ukraine’s defense RussiaInvasion in 2022, managing competition with China, safeguarding United Nations Charteran overview of the global AI Principles and commitment to solving humanitarian crises Gaza and Sudan.
“Given that this is the last time the president will convene a convention, he has an opportunity to talk about how this approach can deliver results, real accomplishments, for the American people and the world,” a senior administration official told a briefing with reporters on Monday.
But given the geopolitical context of Biden’s speech, time is running out for victory.
Since Biden’s final speech to the UN General Assembly in September 2023, ongoing wars in Ukraine and Sudan have persisted, while long-simmering tensions in the Middle East have exploded into deadly conflicts.
Less than a year after Israel launched a large-scale military operation in Gaza following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the Middle East is on the brink of a full-scale regional war.
Hostages taken by Hamas in attacks are either dead or remain in captivity; tens of thousands have been killed or injured in Gaza; and Palestinians are suffering from a severe and worsening humanitarian crisis.
Still, the Biden administration has frequently emphasized its commitment to the ceasefire and hostage deal.
Meanwhile, two and a half years into Ukraine’s war with Russia, some congressional Republicans are now openly opposed to continuing to provide U.S. weapons to Ukraine as it persists in one battle after another, with a dark path forward.
Sudan’s civil war has been raging for more than a year, and new ceasefire talks are in the early stages as the humanitarian situation becomes more dire.
To address those challenges in Tuesday’s speech, Biden will emphasize the need for “strong and effective global institutions, including a reshaped United Nations,” the administration official said Monday.
“This is his vision of countries working together,” the official said. “That was a theme of his presidency and a big part of his legacy,”
Biden has also scheduled numerous high-level meetings to address the onslaught of geopolitical issues behind closed doors.
“That’s one of the advantages of the U.N. General Assembly: effectively, the whole world is here,” said the administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the president’s agenda. “So when you do have crises of the day, they are addressed.”
On September 21, Biden held a summit with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
Biden met with United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Washington on Monday. After a speech in New York on Tuesday, Biden will host a summit to discuss ongoing efforts to combat synthetic drug trafficking.
The White House said he would meet with Vietnamese President Tso Lam on Wednesday. Biden will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington on Thursday.
As Biden ends his presidency, foreign leaders are also taking time out of their U.S. schedule to meet with his potential successor: Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald TrumpNominees from both major parties in the November election.
Harris held separate talks with the president of the United Arab Emirates on Monday, and she will meet with Zelensky in Washington on Thursday.
Trump campaign sources told NBC News that Trump is also expected to meet with Zelensky, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
