A New Beginning hand" to those "who cling to power through corruption and deceit" if they "are willing to unclench" their fists. Obama attempted to reach out to Arab leaders by granting his first interview to an Arab cable TV network, Al Arabiya. On 19 March 2009, Obama continued his outreach to the Muslim world, releasing a New Year's video message to the people and government of Iran. This attempt at outreach was rebuffed by the Iranian leadership. President Obama's first trip to a Muslim majority country occurred on 6–7 April 2009 when he visited Turkey and spoke to the Grand National Assembly.
European foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration after a visit by President Obama to Russia in July 2009 Vice President Joe Biden visited Ukraine. During the visit Biden assured the Ukrainian government that the United States would continue to support Ukraine’s bid to join NATO despite Russia’s objections, "the reset of relationship with Russia" (that the Obama administration wants to pursue) will not come at Ukraine’s expense and Biden (once again) rejected the idea of a Russian "sphere of influence": "We do not recognize anyone else's right to dictate to you or any other country what alliances you will seek to belong to or what relationships you