The president of United States, Joe Bidenassured that Russia wants to “extinguish Ukraine’s right to exist as a state” and criticized Moscow for “making irresponsible nuclear threats” during his intervention in the general debate of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. Along the same lines, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, demanded this Wednesday before the United Nations a “just punishment” for Russia for the aggression against his country, while asking to remove his right to veto in the Security Council. For his part, the President of Iran, Ibrahim Raisiassured that his country is not seeking to equip itself with atomic weapons and demanded guarantees from the United States to comply with any new nuclear agreement.
UN Charter
Before the members of the United Nations present in New York, Biden accused Russia of having violated the founding principles of the UN Charter. “Putin has made open nuclear threats against Europe and a reckless disregard for the responsibilities of a non-proliferation regime. Now Russia is calling for more soldiers to join the fightand the Kremlin is staging a bogus referendum to try to annex parts of Ukraine, an extremely significant violation of the UN Charter.”
Biden stated his support for the expansion of the UN Security Councilwhich currently has five permanent members who are China, the United States, Russia, France and the United Kingdom, who have the right to veto. Washington maintains that Moscow has repeatedly vetoed Security Council resolutions blocking action in Ukraine and other areas since the start of the war.
Though Biden focused on the war in Ukraine, he also used his speech to reassure the Chinese government by stating that his country does not seek a Cold War with Beijing and reiterate that will not support any unilateral change of the status quo with Taiwan, whose sovereignty China claims. The US president took the opportunity to warn of other “worrying trends” in the field of nuclear proliferation, mentioning China and Russia as well as North Korea and Iran.
Recorded message
In his turn the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskydenounced the Russian invasion and the destruction it is causing since February 24. “A crime has been committed against Ukraine and we demand fair punishment”Zelensky said at the beginning of a video message with which this year he intervened in the meetings of international leaders at the United Nations. Dressed in the usual military shirt and speaking in English, the Ukrainian president insisted that his country seeks peace but he has been forced to fight and is showing “his strength on the battlefield.”
“We cannot accept delaying the war”said Zelensky, who insisted that when Russia talks about negotiations, the only thing it is looking for is buying time. For this reason, the Ukrainian leader requested more military support, especially long-range weapons and air defenses, and greater financial support in order to maintain internal stability and help his population.
“Iran does not seek to obtain nuclear weapons”
For his part, the Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisiinsisted this Wednesday before the UN General Assembly that his country “does not seek to build or obtain nuclear weapons” and criticized that, while Tehran is responsible for two percent of the atomic activity worldwide, it is the object of 35 percent of international inspections.
“They keep repeating the same stories of the past, which makes us doubt their commitment to return to the agreement”expanded the Iranian president, who assured that Washington’s “maximum pressure” policy against his country is failing. “The United States cannot accept that certain countries have the right to stand and continue to confuse militarism with security,” he said in this regard.
On the other hand, Raisi accused Western governments of having a double standard when assessing the rights of women in their respective countries and in the Islamic Republic, in the midst of a wave of protests in different Iranian cities over the death of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini after being arrested by the morality police for not wearing the veil correctly.