President Joe Biden returns to the United Nations green stage on Wednesday prepared to support renewed American leadership in Ukraine and the environment, even as the combined effects of a protracted conflict and economic uncertainty create a sombre mood among world leaders.
Biden’s second address to the United Nations General Assembly is a moment for him to herald the U.S.-led effort to prop up Ukraine and punish Russia for its invasion, along with a new, historic investment in fighting climate change.
After delivering his first UN address last year under the cloud of a messy withdrawal from Afghanistan and stalled domestic ambitions, Biden enters his second term with a stronger hand.
“We believe the president is heading to New York with the wind at his back,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
But even as Biden proclaims renewed US leadership, deeper questions remain about his ability to maintain that position in the coming years as the specter of a global recession looms and threats to American democracy fade.
Biden has spent considerable time highlighting these threats in recent weeks, mostly to domestic audiences but also with foreign capitals listening intently. He has recounted in recent speeches sitting around a table at last year’s Group of 7 summit in Cornwall, England, telling fellow leaders that “America is back.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, Biden told the audience, asked him: “For how long?”
That question still hangs over Biden’s efforts on the world stage, even a year and a half into his term, as his predecessor continues to wield influence in the Republican Party and prepares to make another bid for the White House. Biden himself said in an interview aired Sunday that while he intends to run for re-election, the final decision “remains to be seen.”
One of the issues currently at the forefront of global affairs – the fraught negotiations to restart the Iran nuclear deal, from which Trump withdrew – only underscores the effects of the pendulum swings on American leadership.
For Biden, the annual UN address is another stab at explaining to the world how he has led the United States back to leadership after Donald Trump’s “America First” years.
In it, he will offer a “strong rebuke of Russia’s unjust war in Ukraine,” according to Sullivan, and issue “a call to the world to continue to stand against the bare-bones aggression we’ve seen in recent months.”
He also plans to unveil “significant new announcements” to combat food insecurity and “detail how the U.S. has restored its global leadership and the integrity of its discourse on the world stage,” Sullivan said.
After his speech on Wednesday morning, Biden will host a pledge session for the Global Fund to Fight HIV, AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. In the evening, Biden and the first lady will host a reception for leaders at the American Museum of Natural History.
This week’s schedule was released as world leaders gathered in London for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, one of the largest gatherings of heads of state in recent memory. Many flew from the British capital to New York for the UN meetings.
Instead of his usual Tuesday morning speaking time, Biden’s speech was pushed back a day. Unlike previous years, when the United Nations General Assembly was reduced due to Covid-19, this year’s gathering is back to its usual capacity.
Biden and his aides have been preparing the speech for several weeks, a period that coincided with Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive that took back some Russian territory after months of occupation. The initiative had been coordinated with US officials, including through enhanced information and intelligence sharing, and was supported by weapons provided by the US and its allies.
U.S. officials have warned that Ukraine’s current gains do not necessarily signal a broader change in the outlook for the war, which remains likely to be a protracted conflict. A day before Biden’s speech, two Russian-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine announced plans for referendums on formal membership in Russia, votes the US had previously warned would be “fraudulent”.
One of Biden’s goals in his speech on Wednesday will be to stress the importance of maintaining unity among Western allies in supporting Ukraine in the uncertain months ahead.
That effort is made more difficult by a looming energy crisis as Russia blocks gas supplies to Europe as winter sets in. Higher costs spurred in part by withering Western sanctions on Moscow have led to an economic disaster that is causing political turmoil among many leaders in Biden’s coalition, including himself.
The President meets one of those leaders, British Prime Minister Liz Truss, later Wednesday. It will be their first official one-on-one talks since Truss took office earlier this month following her predecessor Boris Johnson’s decision to step down.
He inherited a deep economic crisis, fueled by high inflation and rising energy costs, which has led to fears that the UK could soon enter a prolonged recession. While few in the Biden administration shed tears over Johnson’s resignation — Biden once described him as a “physical and emotional clone” of Trump — the US and UK have become deeply aligned in their approach to Russia under his leadership.
White House officials expect cooperation to continue under Truss, even as he comes under pressure to ease economic pressures at home.
Less certain, however, is whether Trudeau’s tough approach to Brexit will worsen relations with Biden. The President has taken a personal interest in the specific issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol, a post-Brexit agreement that requires additional controls on goods traded between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
The rules were designed to keep the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland open and avoid a return to sectarian violence. But Truss has moved to rewrite those rules, causing deep concern in both Brussels and Washington.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not expected in person at this year’s general assembly, although his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, will be in New York for the event. Chinese President Xi Jinping also does not plan to attend the UN in person this year.
The two authoritarian leaders, who met in person last week, have deepened ties between their countries as relations with the West sour. Biden has warned Xi not to support Putin in his invasion of Ukraine, a theme he is expected to repeat in Wednesday’s speech.
The absence of Putin and Xi underscores the limits of places like the UN to solving the world’s most pressing problems. With permanent seats on the UN Security Council, Russia has resisted the adoption of resolutions on Syria and Ukraine, leading to inaction.
Efforts to reform the Security Council have gained momentum under the Biden administration, although prospects for breaking the body’s impasse appear slim. Biden’s aides are still weighing how specifically he will talk about the US’s desire to reform the Security Council during his visit to the UN this week, but he is expected to make his views known at least privately with other leaders.
“We are committed to finding a way forward to make the UN fit for this century. And, currently, there is an attack on the UN system. The map is being attacked. And this from a permanent member of the Security Council,” Biden’s U.N. ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I can’t change the fact that Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, but I can continue the efforts that we have achieved, and that is to isolate them, to condemn them and to make sure that they know and understand that it is not business as usual.” , he told Jake Tapper.
