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Combating growing doubts among America’s allies about his commitment to working with them, President Biden, in his first address to the United Nations on Tuesday, called for “brutal diplomacy” about climate change, the epidemic and efforts to blunt the expanding influence of autocratic nations. Like China and Russia.

In a 30-minute speech in the General Assembly hall, Mr. Biden called for a new era of global action, arguing that a summer of wildfires, extreme heat and the resurgence of the coronavirus required a new era of unity.

“Our security, well-being and freedoms are, in my view, more interconnected than ever before,” said Mr Biden, and insisted that the United States and its Western allies remain vital partners.

But he spoke little of the global dissonance created by his own actions. American retreat Out of Afghanistan as the Taliban regained control 20 years after they were defeated. And he made no mention of his administration’s outburst that was cast aside in a coup against one of America’s closest allies, France. secret submarine deal To counter the influence of Australia and China in the Pacific.

While these two foreign policy crises are sharply different in nature, they have caused some American partners to question Mr. Biden’s commitment to strengthening traditional alliances, and some have publicly accused him of perpetuating elements of former President Donald J. Trump. The “America First” approach, albeit wrapped in a much more inclusive language.

Mr. Biden never uttered the word “China” throughout his speech, even though America’s efforts to reorient its competitiveness and national security policy were built to counter Beijing’s growing influence. But he tied his argument to a range of options, essentially going as far as supporting democracy against autocracy; this was a not-so-veiled criticism of both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir V. Putin.

“We’re not looking for a new Cold War or a world rigidly divided into blocs – say it again, we’re not looking,” he said. Still, while describing what he called “a turning point in history”, he spoke of the need to choose whether to use new technologies as “a force to empower people or deepen oppression.” At one point he made explicit reference to the targeting of Uyghurs in Western China’s Xinjiang region.

The president’s senior aides, at least publicly, reject the idea that China and the United States, the world’s largest economies, have divided the world into opposing camps, as America and the Soviet Union once did, and seek allies to counter each other’s influence. NS. The relationship with Beijing, unlike the Cold War’s rivalry with Moscow, has marked several areas of common interest, from deep economic interdependence and climate to controlling North Korea’s nuclear program.

But privately, some officials acknowledge the growing similarities. The American-British agreement to equip Australia with nuclear powered submarines is an effort to reset the maritime balance in the Pacific as China expands its territorial claims and threatens Taiwan. The United States is also trying to block China’s access to sophisticated technology and Western communication systems.

“The future belongs to those who give their people the ability to breathe freely, not those who try to strangle their people with iron hand authoritarianism,” Biden said. “The world’s authoritarians are trying to proclaim the end of the age of democracy, but they are wrong.”

A few hours after Mr. Biden left the lectern, Mr. Xi also addressed the General Assembly in a pre-recorded video, claiming to support peaceful development for all peoples, rejecting the American portrayal of his government as oppressive and expansionist.

Mr. Xi’s language was restrained and, like Mr. Biden, did not specify his country’s chief rival, but made a clear reference to China’s anger over the Australian submarine deal. The world “should reject the practice of creating small circles or zero-sum games,” he said, adding that international disputes “should be handled through dialogue and cooperation on the basis of quality and mutual respect.”

He also announced that his country will come. stop building “new coal-fired energy projects” abroad” ends one of the dirtiest fossil fuel programs. China is by far the largest financier of coal-fired power plants.

Mr. Biden’s first speech at the annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York has been silenced by the pandemic. Many national leaders did not attend, and there were few of the grand receptions and relentless traffic jams that traditionally mark the September ritual.

Only a few hours left, and there he met only one ally: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Later in the day, Mr. Biden met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the other partner of the submarine deal, in Washington.

Last week, the three countries revealed the nuclear submarine deal they were secretly negotiating. Australia angered French leaders, who felt betrayed by their allies, by saying that France had abandoned a previous agreement to build conventionally operating submarines. The surprise announcements tied Australia’s defense more closely to the United States – a major shift for a country that only a few years ago sought to avoid taking sides in the American-Chinese rivalry.

Until Tuesday, Mr Biden is the last to see Mr Johnson and Mr Morrison. group of 7 The summit meeting in June, when they were deep in negotiations, hidden from French President Emmanuel Macron, who was at the same event.

On Tuesday, there was no conversation between Mr Biden and Mr Macron, infuriated over the submarine deals and the silence of his closest associates, a move without precedent of more than 240 in which he recalled the French ambassador in Washington. Australian ambassador as well as annual relations. It was unclear whether it was just timing difficulties that prevented the two men from reaching the phone, or whether Mr Macron was deliberately difficult to reach.

Biden’s speech sounded very similar to what he would have said before the Taliban took Kabul without resistance and the return to Asia became an obstacle to relations with Europe.

His aides say the president is tempered when the French compare him to his predecessor, as French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters on Tuesday, when he says the “spirit” of Mr Trump’s approach to deal with the allies. “Still the same” under Mr. Biden.

Other allies have objected – with minimal consultation – to Mr Biden’s August 31 deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan. (The White House tells a different story, arguing that NATO allies are fully consulted.)

Afghanistan’s deadline would probably only generate backroom grunts if the country were expected to quickly fall to the Taliban. Instead, the August effort to airlift foreigners and the Afghans aiding them created an image of American carelessness.

NS Taliban appoints ambassadorUN officials said Tuesday that the movement has requested that its spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen, based in Doha, Qatar, be allowed to speak at this year’s General Assembly to represent Afghanistan at the United Nations. The Taliban’s request, which must be considered by the General Assembly’s Credentials Committee, causes a showdown with the current envoy appointed by Afghanistan’s overthrown government.

On Afghanistan, Mr. Biden sought to return to the bigger picture on Tuesday – “we’ve ended 20 years of conflict” – he said – proving that the US is now freer to pursue challenges like the climate crisis, cyberattacks and cyberattacks. pandemics. And he delivered a far more conciliatory message than his predecessor, who belittled alliances, insulted friends and foes alike, and threatened military action against North Korea and Iran at various moments.

“US military force should be our tool of last resort, not the first, and should not be used as a response to every problem we see in the world,” Mr Biden said.

It reviewed a number of international regulations and institutions that it rejoined in the past eight months, including the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization. He spoke of the United States being a candidate to sit on the UN human rights council and both re-establishing the Iran nuclear deal with which Mr.

In fact, Iran has been at the center of backroom diplomacy when its new foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, met in Vienna with European leaders to call for a return to nuclear talks, which ended in June. Iranian officials said talks are likely to resume in the coming weeks.

But American and European officials expect the government of Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, to seek a high price to return to the deal and to pressure the West by moving closer than ever to producing bomb-quality uranium.

Mr. Raisi did not come to New York, but gave a fiery speech on video. “The world today doesn’t care about ‘America First’ or ‘America Is Back’,” he said. Sanctions are the US’s new form of warfare with the nations of the world,” he said. However, he did not exclude returning to the agreement in exchange for sanctions relief.

Citing the coronavirus pandemic as a prime example of the need for peaceful international cooperation, Mr Biden said “bombs and bullets cannot defend against Covid-19 or its future variants.” And he countered arguments that the United States, moving towards giving booster vaccines to some vaccinated people, is doing little for poorer countries where vaccination has just begun.

The US has “sent more than 160 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to other countries,” he said.

We need collective scientific action and political will,” he said. “We must act now to take up arms as quickly as possible and expand access to oxygen, tests, treatments and save lives worldwide.”

Michael D. Shear, Rick Gladstone, and Farnaz Fassihi contributed to the reporting.