UNITED NATIONS — President Joe Biden excoriated Russian President Vladimir Putin and announced another $1.2 billion aid package for Ukraine during his annual address to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.
"Let us speak plainly: A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council invaded, attempted to erase the sovereign state from the map," Biden said, calling Russia's invasion of Ukraine "a brutal, needless war" that was "chosen by one man."
Russia and China's standing as two of the five Security Council members is undermining the U.N.'s ability to fulfill its mission, Biden went on to argue. Intent on signaling to allies and adversaries alike that the United States will not waver in its defense of Ukraine and support for other sovereign nations, the president urged the United Nations to add additional members to the Security Council to weaken Russia and China's influence. But he did not go as far as to call for revoking their Security Council membership, and with it, their veto power.
