US President Joe Biden speaks at the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York City, USA, on September 19, 2023.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
In his key address to the annual meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, President Joe Biden will seek to reconcile the diplomatic achievements and goals of his presidency with the harsh realities of the wars in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan. United Nations General Assembly The inauguration in New York was his final ceremony as president.
With just four months left in his term, the speech will be one of Biden’s few opportunities to speak to world leaders about his foreign policy achievements.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly, he touched on what the administration sees as its most important achievements, including helping Ukraine defend itself against a 2022 Russian invasion, managing competition with China, and United Nations CharterIt outlines principles for global artificial intelligence and is working to address the humanitarian crises in Gaza and Sudan.
“Given that this is the president’s last General Assembly session, it’s an opportunity for him to talk about how this approach has produced results and delivered real results for the American people and the world,” a senior administration official said at a press conference Monday.
But given the geopolitical backdrop surrounding Biden’s speech, there will be little time to boast about his victory.
Since Biden last addressed the UN General Assembly in September 2023, wars in Ukraine and Sudan have continued and long-simmering tensions in the Middle East have exploded into deadly conflict.
Less than a year after Israel launched a major military operation in Gaza following an Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, the Middle East stands on the brink of an all-out regional war.
Hostages taken in Hamas attacks are either dead or remain in captivity, tens of thousands have been killed or injured in Gaza, and Palestinians are suffering a severe and worsening humanitarian crisis.
Still, the Biden administration has regularly stressed its commitment to a ceasefire and hostage agreement.
Meanwhile, two and a half years into the war between Ukraine and Russia, some Republicans in Congress openly oppose U.S. continued supply of weapons to Ukraine as the country fights one battle after another with no clear future.
Sudan’s civil war has been raging for more than a year, and a new ceasefire is in its early stages as the humanitarian situation worsens.
To address these challenges, Biden plans to emphasize the need for “strong and effective international institutions, including an adapted United Nations” in his speech on Tuesday, administration officials said Monday.
“This is his vision for countries working together,” the official said. “It’s a theme of his presidency and a key part of his legacy.”
Biden also has a packed schedule of high-level meetings behind closed doors to address a surge in geopolitical issues.
“One of the benefits of the General Assembly is that literally the whole world is here,” said a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to hear advance details of the president’s agenda, “so any crisis that arises that day will be addressed.”
On September 21, Biden hosted 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. Following his speech in New York on Tuesday, Biden is due to host a summit on continuing efforts to combat synthetic drug trafficking.
Biden is scheduled to meet with Vietnamese President To Lam on Wednesday and host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington on Thursday, according to the White House.
As Biden’s term as president comes to an end, foreign leaders are also taking time out of their US visits to meet with potential successors to Biden – Vice President Kamala Harris, who will be the major party nominee in November’s election, and former President Donald Trump.
Harris is due to meet with the UAE president on Monday and with Zelensky in Washington on Thursday.
A Trump campaign source told NBC News that Trump is scheduled to meet with Zelensky, along with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
