US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will hold an official summit on the 23rd (local time). Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Russia and Ukraine issues are expected to be discussed.
According to the White House, President Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau at 11:30 am (10:30 pm Korean time) on the same day. Following the one-on-one meeting between the leaders, the summit is expected to lead to an expanded meeting.
The issue of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is expected to be discussed first at the summit. In particular, President Xi’s visit to Russia and response to the summit meeting and joint statement with President Vladimir Putin are considered pending issues.
In this regard, CNN predicted, “For Biden, this visit will be a moment to highlight Canada’s important role in the Western alliance that has supported Ukraine since the Russian invasion about a year ago.”
He then evaluated Prime Minister Trudeau as “the longest-serving leader among the seven major countries (G7), and was Biden’s ally in relation to military and financial support against Ukraine during Russia’s invasion.”
Improving relations between the two countries since the days of the former Donald Trump administration is also cited as a major issue. Former President Trump is criticized for undermining relations among countries with actions such as pressuring Canada and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to increase defense costs.
In this regard, during the NATO Summit held in the UK in 2019, a scene in which Prime Minister Trudeau seemed to gossip former President Trump from behind was captured on video and became a hot topic worldwide.
In the video at the time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “He was late for a 40-minute press conference,” and “The jaws of his teammates fell to the floor (meaning their jaws were gaping)”.
Coincidentally, former President Trump held an unscheduled press conference just before Prime Minister Trudeau’s summit that day. For this reason, the remarks were interpreted as former Prime Minister Trudeau talking badly about former President Trump with other leaders.
Former President Trump accused Prime Minister Trudeau of being “hypocritical” when the controversy arose over this behind-the-scenes talk, and said that Canada was not properly paying for the 2% defense spending target of NATO member countries.
Prime Minister Trudeau explained at the time that he was not slandering former President Trump, but was merely describing a situation of surprise in relation to the announcement of the venue for the next G7 summit.
Economic, trade and immigration issues between the two countries are also on the agenda. In addition, issues such as the development of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), which is in charge of the two countries’ air defense, and global supply chain issues are expected to rise to the agenda of the summit between the two leaders.
After the meeting, President Biden will address the Canadian Parliament. The White House explained that Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton, and former President Obama had also addressed Congress during visits to Canada.
White House spokesperson Curin Janfair predicted that “in his speech, President Biden will emphasize the mutual benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Semiconductor Science Act, and the US-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA).”
President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau will hold a joint press conference after the parliamentary speeches to announce the results of this summit. President Biden will return to the United States after a gala dinner.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.