Biden to argue Russia has violated UN’s ‘core tenets’ as Putin escalates mobilization

President Biden will argue that Russia has violated the “core tenets” of the United Nations during his address to the General Assembly on Wednesday.

Biden’s speech will come less than a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered partial military mobilization in a redoubled effort to take Ukraine. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan previewed Biden’s speech, saying the president will focus on Putin’s “naked aggression.”

“He’ll offer a firm rebuke of Russia’s unjust war in Ukraine and make a call to the world to continue to stand against the naked aggression that we’ve seen these past several months,” Sullivan said Tuesday.

“He 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,” he added.

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Putin’s mobilization, announced early Wednesday, will see Russian citizens drafted into service. The Russian president says the mobilization is only partial, and conscription will therefore be limited to citizens who are already in the military reserves.

Putin argues conscription is necessary to “protect our homeland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, to ensure the security of our people and people in the liberated territories.”

Russia’s move comes after weeks of successful military operations from Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have retaken roughly 8,000 square miles of territory in a series of counterattacks that began in early September.

The Ukrainian victories have pushed Putin to drastic action. In addition to the military mobilization, his regime also announced a series of elections in Russia-controlled regions of Ukraine. Sullivan described the elections as “sham referenda” designed to give Putin a thin excuse for annexing the regions.