(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden will deliver remarks before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday as the body gathers for its annual session in New York City.
It will be the last time Biden addresses the U.N. as president, having withdrawn from the November presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.
His remarks come as Secretary-General António Guterres has called the world a “powder keg” and said the current situation, including geopolitical divides, climate change, inequality, ongoing wars and threats from nuclear weapons, is unsustainable.
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But, he said, “the challenges we face are solvable” if the international community confronts the uncertainty of unmanaged risks, the inequality that underlies injustices and grievances and the impunity that undermines international law and the U.N.‘s founding principles.
“Today, a growing number of governments and others feel entitled to a ‘get out of jail free’ card,” he said in a reference to the classic board game Monopoly.
The gathering is set to begin after hundreds were reported killed following Israeli strikes on Lebanon. Israel has ramped up attacks on Hezbollah in recent days, raising the risk that the war in Gaza, now nearly a year long, could spiral into a wider regional conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the leaders set to address the U.N. this week, as is Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also set to address the U.N. as his country continues to fight back against Russian invasion in another ongoing war.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
