Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday, President Biden denounced Russian president Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threat to the western world, delivered earlier that day, and reiterated that a nuclear war is a no-win situation.
Russia is “making irresponsible nuclear threats to use nuclear weapons,” he said. “A nuclear war cannot be won, and must never be fought.”
Biden called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine an “extremely significant violation of the UN charter” and repudiated Putin’s argument that it was necessary in order to defend Russia. Attacks on schools, railway stations, and hospitals, and horrifying atrocities have been perpetrated by Russia since the offensive began, he said. The UN General Assembly unequivocally condemned Russia’s conduct this week.
Biden’s address comes after Putin ordered a “partial mobilization” of reservist soldiers on Wednesday morning and threatened nuclear retaliation against the West if NATO members escalate their support of Ukrainian forces.
Putin called up 300,000 Russian reservists to be conscripted for service in Ukraine. He accused western countries of weaponizing the Ukraine conflict to “divide and destroy Russia” and claimed that extra defense capabilities are needed, according to a transcript released by Al Jazeera.
“Today our armed forces are operating across a front line that exceeds 1,000 km, opposing not only neo-Nazi formations but the entire military machine of the collective West,” he said.
In addition to NATO conducting reconnaissance across the south of Russia, the United States, the U.K., and the E.U. have been pressuring Ukraine to move this stage of the war to Russian soil, Putin alleged. “They are openly saying that Russia should be defeated on the battlefield by any means,” he said.
Putin’s declaration comes as as Russia moves toward annexing the separatist regions of Ukraine, pending upcoming referendums on their formally joining the federation. Russian-dominated Donetsk and Luhansk, which Putin recognized as independent in February, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, will hold their votes on September 23-27, local officials told the Moscow Times.
“We have set a course for reunification, a return to Russia. And we will not turn away from it,” Kherson’s Moscow-tapped leader Vladimir Saldo said in a video.
Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general, called the referendums a “sham” on Twitter.
“Russia must now see that it cannot impose its will militarily even if there are fake pretend referenda in the territories that have been bombed and occupied,” President Emmanuel Macron of France said in his speech before the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
Putin claimed that senior leaders from NATO nations have flirted with deploying nuclear weapons against Russia, to which he warned: “I would like to remind those who make such statements about Russia that our country also possesses various means of destruction, and in some cases, they are more modern than those of NATO countries.”
“This is not a bluff. And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them,” he added.
Western countries worry that Putin’s absorption of the separatist territories could serve as justification for unleashing nuclear weapons if any of them are attacked. The White House confirmed Tuesday that the U.S. believes the referendums are illegitimate and illegal and that it will not recognize such areas as Russia’s property.
President Biden is expected to denounce Putin’s statement at the UN on Wednesday and urge member nations to take a firm stance against Moscow’s aggression.
National security adviser to Biden Jake Sullivan said that the president “will underscore the importance of strengthening the United Nations and reaffirm core tenets of its charter at a time when a permanent member of the security council has struck at the very heart of the charter by challenging the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Putin’s hostility is a reflection of Russia’s vulnerable position and desperation as it continues to wage a war that has received global condemnation.
“None of this – the sham referenda, the potential mobilisation of additional forces – is a sign of strength. On the contrary, it’s a sign of weakness. It’s the sign of Russian failure,” he told reporters Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera.