Biden says Putin’s bid to ‘extinguish’ Ukraine should ‘make your blood run cold’

President Biden attacked Vladimir Putin during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for saying that the Russian president has “blatantly violated the UN charter” by invading Ukraine.

“A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council has invaded his neighbor,” the president began his words to world leaders. “Russia has blatantly violated the tenets of the United Nations Charter.”

“Just today, President Putin has made open nuclear threats against Europe, reckless disregard for the responsibilities of the non-proliferation regime,” the president said, pointing out that Russia is now mobilizing more soldiers to fight.

“A nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought,” Biden said. “Russia eschewed the non-proliferation ideals.”

“This war is about wiping out Ukraine’s right to exist as a state – plain and simple,” he said. “That should make your blood clot.”

Biden then called for a review of the UN Security Council to expand its permanent and rotating seats to include more countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

He then underlined the urgency of the ‘climate crisis’. ‘No one seems to doubt’ [the crisis] after living the past year,” Biden said, pointing to the ongoing drought in Africa and flooding in Pakistan.

Biden turned his attention to rising tensions between the US and China.

‘We are not aiming for a Cold War. We are not asking any country to choose between the United States or any other partner,” he said.

Earlier, the White House called Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threat against Ukraine “irresponsible rhetoric” after the Russian president accelerated his war effort on Wednesday as world leaders gathered in New York City for the annual United Nations meeting.

Putin’s actions came as Russia suffered humiliating losses on the battlefield and as President Joe Biden prepares to address the meeting, where the war in Ukraine is the main topic.

The Biden administration warned it would respond to nuclear threats if necessary, saying Putin’s “partial mobilization” of an additional 300,000 troops showed his war effort was “struggling.”

“We should always take this kind of rhetoric seriously,” White House spokesman John Kirby told ABC’s Good Morning America about Putin’s nuclear threat.

“It’s irresponsible rhetoric for a nuclear power to talk like that. But it’s not unusual how he talks for the past seven months and we take it seriously. We keep a close eye on their strategic stance so that we can change ours if we need to. We have not seen any indication that that is necessary now,” he added.

In a rare address to the Russian nation on Wednesday morning, Putin insisted that he would use “all means” necessary to defend parts of territory seized or to be annexed by the Kremlin forces in Ukraine. . And then he threatened to use nuclear weapons.

“If there is a threat to the territorial integrity of our country, and to protect our people, we will certainly use all means – and I am not bluffing,” he said during his televised speech.

Putin did not call for full, national conscription, but instead announced a “partial mobilization” of those with military experience, which he said was “necessary” because the Western allies had “crossed all borders” by providing advanced weapons to Ukraine to deliver.

The White House said it was a sign that Putin was struggling in his war.

“It’s definitely a sign that he’s having a hard time and we know that,” Kirby said.

He has killed tens of thousands of people. He has terrible morale, unity cohesion on the battlefield, command and control are still unresolved, he has desertion problems and he forces the wounded back into battle. So manpower is clearly an issue for him. He feels like he’s on his back foot, especially in that northeastern area—the Dumbas,” he noted.

From behind a wooden desk, Putin told Russian viewers on state-controlled television: ‘In its aggressive anti-Russian policy, the West has crossed all borders.

“We are constantly hearing threats against our people and some irresponsible politicians in the West are talking that Ukraine should not only provide long-term military systems that can hit Russia – that is already happening, we are talking about the border regions, in Belgorod and systems using strategic drones, planes, doing reconnaissance in the south.

“There are plans in Washington and Brussels to move the military action to Russian territory.

“They don’t just talk about the destruction of Russia on the battlefield, they talk about political, cultural and all other forms of sovereignty with complete plunder. Now they’re talking about nuclear blackmail.’

British and European allies joined America in saying Putin’s aggressive moves were a sign that his war efforts were failing.

In a Ukrainian counterattack last week, Russian troops in the northwest were pushed back across the Ukrainian border.

Biden himself has warned Putin not to use nuclear weapons.

‘Do not. do not. Don’t,” Biden said in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes that aired Sunday. “You will change the face of war like nothing since World War II.”

Putin’s comments also supported Kremlin-backed referendums in occupied territories that will allow him to declare these areas part of Russia. That annexation could happen next week.

Analysts worry that Putin would then use those mock elections to say that any further Ukrainian military action in those areas would be seen as an attack on Russia itself.

“That’s Ukrainian territory,” Kirby said Wednesday morning. ‘It doesn’t matter what sham referendum they organize or what vote they hold. It’s still Ukrainian.’

Meanwhile, Biden prepares to address the meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, where he is expected to perform call for unity to resist Putin’s ‘naked aggression’.

“He will strongly rebuke Russia’s unjust war in Ukraine and call on the world to continue to resist the naked aggression we have seen in recent months,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. in a preview of the president’s speech on Tuesday.

He will underline the importance of strengthening the United Nations and reaffirm the core principles of the charter at a time when a permanent member of the Security Council has touched the core of the charter by challenging the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty. ‘

Biden will also address food and energy shortages that resulted from Putin’s war.

Russia has now been engaged in what was supposed to be a days-long war in Ukraine for nearly seven months, and the situation for its troops is becoming increasingly desperate.

After the Kremlin’s war machine was forced to withdraw from Kiev in the first months of fighting after the advance stalled, the Kremlin’s war machine focused its efforts on “liberating” the eastern Donbas region.