Vladimir Putin ‘pumping out lies’, says Joe Biden

US President Joe Biden has strongly condemned Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s ‘outrageous acts’ in Ukraine and called out China’s nuclear build-up.

Joe Biden addresses the 77th session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

US President Joe Biden has strongly condemned Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s “outrageous acts” in Ukraine and called out China’s nuclear build-up in a speech at the UN, amid an escalation in tension between the two former cold war superpowers.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to the world to punish Moscow as Russia was set to face direct pressure over the invasion of his country at the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday (Friday AEST).

The session is expected to bring Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov face-to-face with top Western diplomats, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has refused a one-on-one meeting since the February 24 invasion.

After two years of pandemic restrictions, only one leader was still allowed to address the assembly virtually — Mr Zelensky, who, in a prerecorded video, called 15 times for “punishment” of Russia and received a rare standing ovation.

“Ukraine demands punishment for trying to steal our territory. Punishment for the murders of thousands of people. Punishment for tortures and humiliations of women and men,” he told the 77th session of the assembly overnight Wednesday.

Mr Zelensky called for a special tribunal to hold Russia accountable, saying it would be a “signal to all would-be aggressors”. He also demanded a compensation fund, saying Russia “should pay for this war with its own assets”.

In a 25-minute address to the assembly, Mr Biden had earlier accused Russia of “shamelessly violating core tenets” of the UN charter, and “pumping out lies” about the impact of US sanctions, just hours after Mr Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons.

“If nations can pursue imperial ambitions without consequences, we put at risk everything this institution stands for,” the US President said, urging the UN’s members to see Russia’s “outrageous acts for what they are”.

Mr Putin had earlier threatened to use nuclear weapons against the West and announced the mobilisation of up to 300,000 Russian soldiers — the biggest since World War II — to shore up the Kremlin’s failing invasion of Ukraine.

“When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal — this is not a bluff,” Mr Putin said in an aggressive televised speech.

Volodymyr Zelensky remotely addresses the 77th session of the UN General Assembly at the in New York on Thursday. Picture: AFP

Mr Biden shot back at the Russian leader in remarks that had to be modified following the Kremlin’s outburst, decrying Moscow’s nuclear sabre-rattling as a “reckless disregard for the responsibilities of a non-proliferation regime”.

“Russia is pumping out lies, pinning blame on sanctions imposed, let me be perfectly clear: our sanctions explicitly allow Russia to export food and fertiliser. No limitation. It’s Russia’s war and only Russia can end it,” he said.

In a speech that focused mainly on Russia’s behaviour and the US efforts to champion democracy and fight climate change around the world, Mr Biden singled out China for “conducing an unprecedented and concerning nuclear build up without any transparency”. “The US will conduct itself as reasonable leader, we do not seek conflict, we do not seek cold war, we do not ask any nation to choose between the US or any other partner,” he said.

EU foreign ministers held an emergency meeting late on Wednesday in New York, where the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said they considered new sanctions against Russia.

Britain’s Liz Truss, addressing the UN on her first foreign trip as prime minister, vowed that her government “will not rest until Ukraine prevails”. “At this crucial moment in the conflict, I pledge that we will sustain or increase our military support to Ukraine for as long as it takes,” she said.

As Western nations, including top EU economy Germany, try to wean themselves off dependence on Russian energy, Ms Truss called as well for an “economic NATO” among the Group of Seven powers and their partners.

“If the economy of a partner is being targeted by an aggressive regime, we should act to support them — all for one and one for all,” she said.

Mr Biden, who a day earlier returned from London to attend the Queen’s funeral, to which Mr Putin was not invited, also called out the “sham referendums” Russia was reportedly organising in a bid to formally annex occupied eastern parts of Ukraine.

The escalation in tension came after Russia endured a major defeat last week, when Ukraine forces recaptured around 10 per cent of the territory Russia had captured since it invaded in February.

Mr Biden called out a string of projects the US was helping fund in developing countries, including a “first of its kind” small modular nuclear reactor in Romania.