U.S. President Joe Biden 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.
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 will meet with Pope Francis amid criticism from U.S. bishops over Biden’s stance on abortion rights. Sullivan said the two men would discuss climate, migration and income inequality during their meeting.
The president will then hold talks with Italian leaders and a sit-down with French President Emmanuel Macron in an effort to repair relations here after a rift over a U.S. security pact with Britain and Australia.
On Saturday and Sunday, Biden will attend G20 meetings, which will touch on Haiti but focus on core economic themes, such as global minimum tax.
“He’ll be laser focused on supply chains and energy prices because he knows that these issues impact working families here in America," Reuters cited Sullivan as saying.
