Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took center-stage at the United Nations on Tuesday where US President Joe Biden warned the world against trying to “appease” Russia’s “naked aggression.”
Wearing his trademark military fatigues, Zelensky joined the annual UN General Assembly for the first time since the war and listened intently as Biden urged solidarity against Russia’s invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin — who did not come to New York — is expecting that the world “will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence,” Biden said.
“But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the UN Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?” Biden said.
“We must stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.”
Biden won applause from the chamber when he called for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but several prominent world leaders decided to miss this year’s UN session, including from China, and allies Britain and France.
Zelensky is set to meet leaders less friendly to Ukraine’s cause, including Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has said previously that Ukraine shared blame for the war and faulted the billions of dollars in Western military aid to Kyiv.
Lula, who casts himself as a neutral mediator, told the General Assembly that “work needs to be done to create space for negotiations.”
“A lot is invested in weapons and very little in development,” Lula said.
Zelensky, who until recently only traveled in utmost secrecy, will on Wednesday take part in a special session on Ukraine at the UN Security Council, where Russia is a permanent member wielding a veto over any binding actions. He is also due to stop in Washington.
Visiting a New York hospital treating wounded Ukrainian soldiers on Monday, Zelensky said that the United Nations still provides “a place for Russian terrorists.”
