US President Joe Biden delivered his first foreign policy speech on Thursday since he took office last month.
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"America is back. Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy," Biden declared in his speech.
Notably absent in his remarks, delivered alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, were Iran, Israel, and the 2015 nuclear deal.
Although focused on Russia and China, Biden's speech also touched on the war in Yemen, which the US president said, "has to end." He announced the appointment of a special envoy to the conflict to this end.
"To underscore our commitment, we are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales," he said.
"At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV strikes, and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries. We're going to continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people," Biden said.
Noting the White House and the Kremlin had extended an accord that caps the maximum number of strategic nuclear warheads either country can have deployed earlier in the week, the US president said, "At the same time, I made it clear to President Putin, in a manner very different from my predecessor, that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russia's aggressive actions – interfering with our elections, cyberattacks, poisoning its citizens – are over. We will not hesitate to raise the cost on Russia and defend our vital interests and our people," he said.
He criticized "the politically motivated" arrests of Kremlin critic Alexander Navalny and thousands of his supporters in recent weeks.
Biden said the US would also "take on directly the challenges posed by our prosperity, security, and democratic values by our most serious competitor, China.
"We'll confront China's economic abuses; counter its aggressive, coercive action; to push back on China's attack on human rights, intellectual property, and global governance. But we are ready to work with Beijing when it's in America's interest to do so," he said.
Biden's first weeks in office have seen a series of developments, including a military coup in Myanmar as well as Iran's continued violations of the nuclear deal.
Late last month, Blinken announced the administration had placed temporary holds on several arms sales to Middle East allies to examine whether they meet US national security objectives.
Since taking office, Biden's administration has shown a willingness to revive and even improve the 2015 nuclear deal if Iran adheres to the accord. Iran, for its part, has demanded the US rescind sanctions on its economy before returning to the deal.
On Tuesday, Israel Hayom reported an internal International Atomic Energy Agency document confirmed the Islamic Republic was operating advanced centrifuges at its nuclear facility in Natanz.
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