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President Biden is due to deliver his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly since taking office on Tuesday morning, facing his international peers following the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, amid tensions with France after a new trilateral agreement with the United Kingdom and Australia. , as the world continues to fight COVID-19.
The president is expected to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York, with administration officials describing the event as a “huge opportunity” for Biden.
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Asked about the multiple crises facing the Biden administration, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that was “what you do as president.”
“You are going through crises, you are going through storms and we certainly are doing it right now,” Psaki said on “CBS This Morning”.
“But it’s a huge opportunity today for the president. He’s obviously been on the world stage for a long time, but he’s going to tell the world, to all the leaders in the room, we’re not looking inside,” she said. “After ending a 20 year war, we are going to look outward and we are going to prioritize what is most important to deal with – whether it is the climate crisis, cyber threats, continue to work with partners on the fight against terrorism. ”
President Biden meets with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the Intercontinental Barclay Hotel during the United Nations General Assembly, Monday, September 20, 2021, in New York City. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
(AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
She added: “And that’s what we need to have our resources, our focus and our eyes on – and we’re going to do it by rebuilding our allies and partners.”
Biden, so far, has ignored questions about the chaotic U.S. withdrawal of all military assets from Afghanistan, which ended on August 31, after the country fell to the Taliban.
The United States evacuated more than 124,000 people, including at least 6,000 American citizens and thousands of other Afghan allies and partners. Thirteen US servicemen were killed during the withdrawal. At least 100 Americans who wanted to leave were left behind, the administration said.
Biden also came under pressure from France after French President Emmanuel Macron recalled his ambassadors from the United States and Australia following a new Indo-Pacific-focused trilateral agreement between the United States. , the United Kingdom and Australia (AUKUS). The deal is expected to focus on developing Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine capabilities – an effort France was working to make with Australia. France had previously made an agreement to send French-made submarines to Australia.
The French insist on explanations and clarifications this week when Biden and Macron log on to the phone. Psaki explained that Biden will try to reassure the “key partner and ally,” but said the United States has no intention of withdrawing from the AUKUS deal.
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“We have a long lasting and lasting relationship, friendship and alliance with France. What we are talking about here is an economic agreement,” Psaki said. “We have the best nuclear technology in the world. And the Australians wanted our technology before that. They bought it from France. We understand that they are unhappy with it.”
She added that Biden will use his speech on Tuesday to “convey that alliances are the backbone of who we are.”
“We are going to build and solve these problems in the world on the basis of these alliances – climate, cyber, counterterrorism, whatever it is,” Psaki added.
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has suggested that the United States may foment a cold war with China, calling relations between the United States and China dysfunctional.
Psaki said the Biden administration did not “agree” with Guterres’ assessment.
“The president met him last night and said that you don’t have to worry that we are trying to start a cold war with China,” Psaki said. “This is not what the United States is going to do.”
Psaki added that Biden would address the issue in his speech on Tuesday, while maintaining that the United States viewed its relationship with China “through the prism of competition.”
Biden, earlier this month, spoke for the second time by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping as president.
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“China is a competitor, but it’s not a country we want to have a conflict with,” Psaki said. “So what people will hear about the president is where we have problems, we will raise them, but we will also look for areas where we can work together and we have to work together.”
Officials also said Biden would communicate on Tuesday that he “does not believe in the idea of a new cold war with the world divided into blocs.”
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