War in spotlight as Biden, Zelensky address UN General Assembly
U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would address world leaders gathered at the United Nations on the first day of the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate week.
To speak at the set 78th General Debate in New York on Tuesday are; the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Others are the Iranian Prime Minister Ebrahim Raisi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz all in attendance.
The week got going on Monday with a pre-debate summit on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
From Tuesday onwards, more than 140 prime ministers and heads of state will give speeches at the General Debate.
Zelensky, who is attending the event in New York in person for the first time since the beginning of the war and is likely to attract the most attention in the meeting.
He would also attend a blizzard of sideline meetings.
Russia’s war against Ukraine, which started in February 2022, is likely to play an important role in many of the UN speeches.
Zelensky arrived in New York on Monday afternoon with his wife, Olena Zelenska.
He wrote on social media that he would put out a concrete proposal to UN member states on how to fortify the principle of territorial integrity.
It would also improve the UN’s capacity to thwart and halt aggression.
He also noted that he will meet with Biden in Washington later in the week, along with members of Congress and the military leadership.
Russian President Putin will not attend the General Assembly and just like in 2022, his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will be his proxy at the New York meeting.
In March, the International Criminal Court in the The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin for his alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The Russian leader has since been reluctant to travel outside his home country, skipping a meeting of the G20 nations in India and another one of the developing BRICS countries in South Africa.
