WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden tore into Vladimir Putin on Wednesday as he addressed the United Nations, saying the Russian leader “shamelessly violated” the UN Charter when he invaded neighbor Ukraine.

“Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations Charter,” Biden said as he addressed the UN General Assembly.

Russian forces have attacked Ukrainian schools, railway stations and hospitals, part of Moscow’s aim of “extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state,” Biden said.

“This war is about extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state, plain and simple. And Ukraine’s right to exist as a people,” he said at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday.

“Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you believe – that should make your blood run cold.”

Russia must be held accountable for any war crimes committed in Ukraine, Biden continued, saying Washington was working on the issue with its international partners.

In a break with tradition, Biden’s appearance came on the second day of the high-level annual diplomatic event instead of the first, the delay due to Biden’s attendance of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral in London on Monday.