President Joe Biden, hoping to signal U.S. re-engagement with allies after four years of Donald Trump's "America First" policies, heads to a meeting of G20 leaders in Europe this week to discuss energy prices, the Iranian nuclear program and supply chain issues, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday, APA reports quoting Reuters.
Biden will also seek to cement progress on a global minimum tax during his trip, Sullivan told reporters.
Biden leaves for Italy on Thursday. He is slated to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday before kicking off meetings with leaders of the world's largest economies in Rome. After the G20 meetings, Biden travels to Glasgow, Scotland, to attend the U.N. climate change conference COP26.
Sullivan said the United States and Europe were united ahead of the two summits and noted that China's President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were not attending in person. Xi has not traveled outside of China since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
"The U.S. and Europe will be there, and they'll be there energized and united at both the G20 and COP26, driving the agenda," Sullivan said.
Biden's second trip abroad since becoming president also comes amid continued frustration over the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and a cloud over Biden's own domestic agenda as infrastructure and social spending bills struggle Congress.
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