The United States, Australia, India and Japan kick off the Quad summit with an eye on Ukraine

Japan imposes new sanctions on Russia 0:47

(CNN) --

US President Joe Biden delivered the Quad Summit keynote address in Tokyo on Tuesday, addressing the importance of the alliance amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

"We are going through a dark moment in our shared history," Biden said as he sat across from the leaders of India, Australia and Japan, countries with which he forms the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (better known as Quad).

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"Russia's brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe. And innocent civilians have been killed in the streets and millions of refugees are internally displaced as well as exiled. And this is more than a European issue, it is a world issue".

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pose for a photo before the QUAD leaders' meeting at the office of the prime minister in Tokyo on May 24.

(Masanori Genko/The Yomiuri Shimbun/Reuters)

Biden warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "trying to extinguish a culture," pointing to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian schools, churches and museums.

The United States, he said, will continue to work with its partners to "lead a global response."

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The Russian invasion, he later added, "only heightens the importance" of the Quad's shared goals and values.

"The fundamental principles of international order, territorial integrity and sovereignty, international law and human rights must always be upheld, regardless of where they are violated. So the Quad has a lot of work ahead of it," he said.

Quad Summit leaders meet at Kantei Palace in Tokyo, Japan, on May 24.

(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

These comments come as the White House has said that Biden intends to speak during the summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- who has resisted US pressure to punish Russia -- on how to strengthen US-India ties, a suggestion with which he hopes New Delhi will wean itself off Russian-made weapons.

Biden reiterated his conviction that the world is in a "transformation moment" and that democracies can prevail over autocracies.

He praised the "extraordinary leadership" of Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio while thanking his host.

And he welcomed and congratulated Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was sworn in this week, to the group of world leaders, joking that "it's okay" if he falls asleep during the summit.

"We very much appreciate your commitment to be here so soon after taking office," he said.

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