Joe Biden warns democracy 'at risk' as leaders mark D-Day

President Biden warns of global democracy risk on D-Day anniversary, vowing support for Ukraine and international alliances.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday warned on the 80th anniversary of D-Day that democracy around the world was at risk, as leaders marked the 1944 landings in occupied France that helped defeat Nazi Germany in World War II.

Mr. Biden, Britain's King Charles III, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the tens of thousands of Allied troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy in northern France on June 6, 1944.

An honoured additional guest was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a stark reminder of the war being waged for over two years in Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Mr. Biden vowed never to abandon international alliances or Ukraine in its fight against Russia, a pointed swipe at his election rival ex-president Donald Trump who has publicly questioned the importance of organisations such as NATO.

“We’re living in a time when democracy is more at risk across the world than at any point since the end of World War II,” Mr. Biden said. “Isolationism was not the answer 80 years ago and is not the answer today.”

"Real alliances make us stronger — a lesson that I pray we Americans never forget."

Mr. Biden also vowed that, under his leadership, the United States "will not walk away" from Ukraine because the country "will be subjugated and it will not end there".