Conflict Between Middle East And Ukraine Remains A Highlight Of Biden Speech At The United Nations

The conflict between Middle East and Ukraine remains the highlighted topic of Biden speech at the United Nations. His speech would be a farewell address at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

Hezbollah fighters groups in Lebanon and Israel are moving towards an all-out war due to Israel’s aggressive war strategies against Hamas after almost one year. Israel had undertaken pugnacious tactics like pager detonations in Lebanon and massive airstrikes that have resulted in several deaths and thousands of injuries.

Lebanon wants to take revenge on Israel, which is creating an unsettling atmosphere of war for the common public in Lebanon. This is the reason for Biden addressing the battle between Middle East and Ukraine along with the 17-month-old war in Sudan for highlighting a request for Western allies’ support.

Biden’s request for Kyiv’s support

Support for Kyiv would be requested in Biden speech at the United Nations regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. His speech marks its own significance as he would be the last high-profile personality in the international community to ask for support for Ukraine.

Such a support would be absent if Donald Trump gains victory in the upcoming elections who had previously scoffed at the very idea of Ukraine’s support. If Trump overthrows Kamala Harris, then the support would be in doubt.

Biden does not support war, neither as a conflict between Middle East and Ukraine, nor anywhere else

Hence, President Biden wanted to make the most of his farewell address at the United Nations to rejuvenate US relations on an international level. He wanted to ensure that the US does not support any kind of war anywhere in the world and extract the country from the “forever wars” agenda, as was in Afghanistan and Iraq that devoured the American foreign policy for the past two decades.

Biden would be able to achieve both goals on such a big platform with his farewell speech. However, his administration still needs to rethink the biggest battle between Middle East and Ukraine which originated from day one of World War II.

Pentagon’s announcement

On Monday, the Pentagon announced sending additional US troops to the Middle East as a backing of the already present 40,000 in the region amidst the rising tensions. On the other hand, the White House emphasized taking hold of the time and asked Israel and Hezbollah to ceasefire and step back.

The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre said, “It’s in everyone’s interest to resolve it quickly and diplomatically”. The statement was given before Joe Biden left on Monday for his UN speech from New York.

According to two senior administration officials, Biden administration representatives will be having discussions with peers outside the United Nations over proposals they think could stop the bloodshed between Israel and Lebanon from getting worse.

The officials declined to provide any more information on the possible junctions and spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose private deliberations. According to one of the diplomats, other nations were eager to provide suggestions for easing tensions.

Biden’s previous views on Middle East conditions

Biden was hopeful about the conditions of the Middle East a year ago when he spoke at the United Nations. He mentioned the region as a “sustainable, integrated Middle East” in the making.

At that time, Israel was making up for its economic conditions and collaborating with Arab countries which apparently seemed fruitful with the implementation of the Abraham Accords. Israel signed the agreement with Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates when the Trump administration was in control.  

Moreover, Biden would also make his stance about Western support for Ukraine in his ongoing war with Russia. It was Biden who helped Ukraine with weapons and economic aid against Russia for an international coalition when Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an assault on Ukraine in 2022.