In his first diplomatic address, United States President Joe Biden on Thursday promised a new era of foreign policy, declaring that “America is back” on the global stage, Reuters reported.

“America is back, diplomacy is back,” Biden said at the State Department, reported CNBC. The Democrat said that his administration would work toward “reclaiming our credibility and moral authority”.

Biden said that American alliances were the country’s greatest asset. “And leading with diplomacy means standing shoulder to shoulder with our allies and key partners once again,” he added.

The US president promised to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with the country’s allies on a number of shared matters like climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. “We must meet the new moment... accelerating global challenges from the pandemic to the climate crisis to nuclear proliferation,” said Biden.

In his speech, Biden signaled aggressive approaches to China and Russia and urged Myanmar’s military leaders to stop their coup. He also declared that US will end support for a Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen.

The US president challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that the American leadership must work towards countering the “determination of Russia to damage and disrupt our democracy”.

“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,” Biden said, alluding to Donald Trump.

Biden also renewed calls for the immediate release of Russian Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was detained in Moscow last month and sentenced to more than two years in prison. “He’s been targeted for exposing corruption and he should be released immediately and without condition,” he said.

Biden said Beijing was US’ “most serious competitor”. “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,” he added. “But we’re ready to work with Beijing when it’s in America’s interest to do so.”

Biden also announced that he would increase the nation’s annual refugee admissions cap to 1,25,000 in the 12-month period starting October 1, according to CNBC.

“The United States’ moral leadership on refugee issues was a point of bipartisan consensus for so many decades,” Biden said. “Our example pushed other nations to open wider doors as well. So today, I’m approving an executive order to begin the hard work of restoring our refugee admissions program to help meet the unprecedented global need.”