US President Joe Biden tore into Vladimir Putin on Wednesday as he addressed the United Nations, saying the Russian leader "shamelessly violated" the UN Charter when he invaded neighbor Ukraine.
"Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations Charter," Biden said as he addressed the UN General Assembly.
Russian forces have attacked Ukrainian schools, railway stations and hospitals, part of Moscow's aim of "extinguishing Ukraine's right to exist as a state," Biden said.
"This war is about extinguishing Ukraine's right to exist as a state, plain and simple. And Ukraine's right to exist as a people," he said at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday.
"Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you believe - that should make your blood run cold."
Russia must be held accountable for any war crimes committed in Ukraine, Biden continued, saying Washington was working on the issue with its international partners.
In a break with tradition, Biden's appearance came on the second day of the high-level annual diplomatic event instead of the first, the delay due to Biden's attendance of Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral in London on Monday.
"Just today, President Putin has made overt nuclear threats against Europe in a reckless disregard for the responsibilities of the non-proliferation regime," he said as world leaders convened at the UN's New York headquarters.
"Now, Russia's calling up more soldiers to join the fight. The Kremlin is organizing sham referenda, trying to annex parts of Ukraine, an extremely significant violation of the UN Charter," he added.
Putin announced earlier Wednesday a mass mobilization in Russia of 300,000 reservists to support his flagging war effort in Ukraine. In doing so he offered a dire warning ahead of planned referenda in parts of Ukraine denounced by the West as a "sham" effort to annex additional Ukrainian territory.
"When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff," said Putin.
The move comes one day after the announcement of referenda in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and parts of Zaporizhzhia. Putin and his regional proxies are seeking to use the polls to claim the territories as part of Russia.
Turning to reform of the UN Security Council amid ongoing deadlocks on key issues, Biden voiced support for expanding the body's membership, saying permanent seats should be granted to nations in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
"The United States is committed to this vital work," he said, emphasizing that permanent members should refrain from using their veto powers "except in rare, extraordinary situations to ensure the Council remains credible and effective."
The president announced an additional $2.9 billion in US humanitarian assistance to support the global food crisis exacerbated by Russia's war on Ukraine, saying the Kremlin "in the meantime, is pumping out lies, trying to pin the blame for the food crisis on sanctions imposed by many in the world for the aggression against Ukraine."
"Let me be perfectly clear about something. Our sanctions explicitly allow Russia the ability to export food and fertilizer, no limitation," he said. "Russia's war is worsening food insecurity, and only Russia can end it."
Even as he singled out Putin for threatening Europe with doomsday weapons, Biden said China is in the midst of a rapid advancement of its nuclear program.
"China is conducting an unprecedented and concerning nuclear buildup without any transparency," he said, maintaining that the US stands ready to further strengthen its nuclear non-proliferation commitments "no matter what else is happening in the world."
"A nuclear war cannot be one and must never be fought," he said.
The president continued to voice support for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, saying it remains "the best way to ensure Israel's security and prosperity for the future and give the Palestinians the state to which they are entitled."
